Why Breaking Up Google Is ‘Unlikely,’ Despite Justice Department’s Antitrust Lawsuit
It’s “unlikely” Google will be broken up due to a new antitrust lawsuit from the U.S. Justice Department — but that doesn’t mean it’s completely out of the woods, according to Penn State professor and anti-trust expert John Lopatka. The hurdle the Justice Department needs to clear isn’t just proving Google is a monopoly when it comes to online search, Lopatka said. The government will also have to show Google reached monopoly status using anticompetitive means or that “harm” has been done, and that could be trickier. On Tuesday, the government filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming it’s a “monopolist” that enjoys a major advantage by being the go-to search engine for hundreds of millions of devices in the U.S. — a reality that essentially makes it impossible for competitors to gain traction. About 90% of U.S. search queries are funneled through Google, the lawsuit said, which the government claims bars competitors from gaining enough users to scale their businesses. Also Read: Google Hit With Antitrust Lawsuit by US Justice Department The idea is that typically, with no real substitutes, there’s “harm to consumers” — which is an essential ingredient for effective antitrust claims — but that’s not necessarily the...
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