First search, now ads: How Google could be forced to break up its empire

The Department of Justice wants Google (GOOGL-1.57%) to clear more than just its cache. In a pair of antitrust lawsuits happening right now, the federal government is looking to spin off key pillars of the tech giant’s empire — namely its ad tech business and Chrome browser.

In one federal courtroom, the DOJ is arguing that Google illegally maintained its monopoly in online search by paying billions to become the default engine on smartphones and browsers. In another, the federal government is pushing to dismantle the company’s ad tech empire — where it controls the software and infrastructure that powers much of the web’s automated advertising auctions.

Together, these two markets account for the vast majority of revenue at Alphabet, Google’s $2 trillion parent company. And now, after years of regulatory scrutiny, both are under legal siege that strike at the heart of the company’s business.

The stakes are high. If the DOJ gets its way, the result would be the most aggressive corporate breakup ordered by the U.S. government since that of AT&T (T+0.75%) in the 1980s.

An ad tech empire under serious fire

The ad tech lawsuit, filed in 2023, took a critical turn last month when Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Google had illegally tied together key parts of its advertising stack — specifically its publisher ad server and its ad exchange (AdX). That allowed Google to box out any potential competitors and control the flow of digital ad dollars across the open web.

Essentially, Google designed a system where publishers had little choice but to use its tools to list and auction off ad space — and where the buyers, also on Google’s platforms, were funneled through its exchange. The DOJ has said that this vertical integration allowed the company to quietly tilt the rules in its favor, manipulating auctions and undermining competition while pocketing a larger share of the ad market.

At a hearing Friday in Virginia, the DOJ revealed its plan: force Google to divest both its publisher ad server and AdX, saying these businesses “must be separated” to restore competition and break Google’s dominance. The government also wants Google to open its real-time bidding infrastructure to rival firms, calling the status quo “too dangerous” for the market.

Julia Tarver Wood, the DOJ’s lead lawyer, warned that if 90% of publishers remain tied to Google’s infrastructure, the market cannot function fairly.

Google, unsurprisingly, has rejected the government’s approach, arguing that such a breakup would be extreme, legally unprecedented, and potentially harmful to internet users. The company also emphasized that it competes for ad spending with rivals such as Meta (META-2.36%), Amazon (AMZN-2.87%), and TikTok.

Karen Dunn, the company’s lead counsel, said the DOJ’s proposal is “very likely completely impossible” without causing serious issues — citing concerns about privacy, security, and a lack of credible buyers.

The company’s lawyers say Google is willing to implement behavioral changes — such as sharing real-time ad exchange data and increasing auction transparency with rivals — but not sell any parts of its business. Dunn said that the only companies that could afford to buy its ad tech are “enormous tech companies” and that, in such a sale, Google’s security and privacy could disappear.

“The DoJ’s additional proposals to force a divestiture of our ad tech tools go well beyond the court’s findings, have no basis in law, and would harm publishers and advertisers,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s head of regulatory affairs.

Brinkema has scheduled a trial for September 22 to hear the proposals and Google’s rebuttals — and to rule on any potential remedies.

A threat to Chrome — and search

The ad tech case is only half the battle.

Google is defending itself against a separate antitrust ruling going back to 2020 that found the company illegally maintained a monopoly in online search. The key tactic? Exclusive deals. For years, Google paid companies such as Apple (AAPL-0.39%), Samsung, and Mozilla more than $20 billion annually to make its search engine the default option on their devices and browsers.

That tactic, Judge Amit Mehta ruled in 2o24, helped entrench Google’s dominance and shut out competition

So what remedy is the DOJ is proposing? For one thing, a forced sale of Chrome, the world’s most-used browser.

That browser, the government argues, is a linchpin in Google’s dominance. The DOJ says it’s more than just a browser — it’s an access point that defaults to Google Search and collects enormous troves of data. Forcing Google to sell Chrome, the DOJ claims, would break the company’s feedback loop among search, ads, and AI — and open space for competitors to play catch-up.

Mehta hasn’t ruled yet on remedies in that case, but the proposal to spin off Chrome is already making waves. Tech companies including OpenAI, Perplexity, and even Yahoo (APO-2.36%) have reportedly expressed interest in acquiring the browser if it’s put up for sale.

The DOJ has asked for other heavy penalties, such as making the company provide rivals with some of its data about what terms people search for and what websites they click on. The government also asked that Mehta preserves the ability to force Google to sell its smartphone operating system, Android, if the proposed remedies don’t restore search competition.

“Your honor, we are not here for a Pyrrhic victory,” DOJ lawyer David Dahlquist said in court in late April. “This is the time for the court to tell Google and all other monopolists who are out there listening — and they are listening — that there are consequences when you break the antitrust laws.”

But Google CEO Sundar Pichai appeared Wednesday in a Washington court in the search remedies trial and argued the proposals were “far-reaching, so extraordinary” that they would effectively give competitors “the ability to reverse-engineer our search engine for free.” He also said sharing data would jeopardize users’ privacy.

What’s at stake for Google — and Silicon Valley

The stakes for Google — and the broader tech industry — are enormous. The ad tech trial is scheduled to resume in September. Remedies in the search case are expected near the end of the summer. Meanwhile, regulators around the world are watching closely.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a Q1 earnings call that an antitrust lawsuit his company is facing — and Google’s monopoly suits — cast a specter over the tech industry. Responding to a question on the call about the mounting legal risk, Cook said, “We’re monitoring these closely, but as you point out, there’s risk associated with them, and the the outcome is unclear.”

If the courts side with the DOJ, it could signal an impending era of aggressive antitrust enforcement — one that doesn’t just slap fines on monopolistic platforms but forces them to break apart. For Google, that would mean a dramatic unbundling of the ecosystem it has spent decades building: one where search feeds ads and Chrome ties everything together.