States, DOJ Plan for Ending Google’s Search Monopoly Includes Data Rights
DOJ and a bipartisan group of 38 states submitted a final proposal Friday about ending Google’s search engine monopoly, including data rights and privacy safeguards.
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“Google abused its monopoly power over online search to deprive consumers and businesses of choice, innovation, and privacy,” said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong (D). “States and the Department of Justice are united in this proposed judgment to impose a series of fair and workable remedies to end Google’s illegal monopoly and restore competition.”
DOJ and the states filed the proposal at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The proposed remedy includes a ban on search-related payments to distribution partners and the divestment of Chrome. In addition, it gives the plaintiffs a limited period when they can preliminarily review future financial interests in generative AI competitors and online search. It also requires “Google provide to publishers, websites and content creators crawling data rights (such as the ability to opt out of having their content crawled for the index or training of large language models or displayed as AI-generated content).”
Additionally, “the decree would deny Google of its continuing exclusive control of ill-gotten gains by requiring the company to share targeted portions of its search index, user, and ads data with its competitors for a limited period of time,” noted a press release by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R). “The revised proposal takes a more refined approach to the sharing of these types of data, accounting for important privacy considerations.”
This proposal stems from case 1:20-cv-03010, which began in October 2020 when the DOJ and the states filed a complaint against Google for the search engine's anticompetitive practices, creating a monopoly where consumers must agree to Google's policies, privacy practices, and use of personal data. A hearing on the proposed remedies is scheduled April 21 to May 9.