Press Release: 2024-11-22
AG Campbell Joins Justice Department, Multistate Coalition Seeking To Limit Google's Business Practices
Proposal Aims to End Search Engine Monopoly; Hearing Scheduled in April 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
11/21/2024
MEDIA CONTACT
Sydney Heiberger, Press Secretary
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Call Sydney Heiberger, Press Secretary at (617) 963-2579
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Email Sydney Heiberger, Press Secretary at Sydney.Heiberger@mass.gov
BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today announced that she, along with a coalition of 38 attorneys general and the Justice Department, has proposed a robust package of remedies to end Google’s unlawful monopoly over internet search engines and to restore competition to benefit customers.
“Google’s business practices are designed in a manner that stifles competition and restricts consumers’ choices for search engines,” said AG Campbell. “This proposed judgment is designed to hold Google accountable for its illegal monopoly and ensures that businesses can fairly compete in the digital economy.”
In December 2020, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) joined the coalition in filing a lawsuit alleging that Google illegally maintains its monopoly power over general search engines through anticompetitive contracts and conduct. The multistate lawsuit was a companion to an earlier federal antitrust lawsuit the Justice Department filed in October 2020.
In a landmark decision in August 2024, a D.C. District Court judge ruled that Google violated federal antitrust laws by illegally maintaining a monopoly in online search and search text advertisements. At issue now are the remedies the court will impose to end Google’s improper conduct that has stifled competition and harmed consumers, as well as the steps necessary to restore competition.
The Proposed Final Judgment (PFJ), filed with the court in Washington, D.C., seeks to end Google’s search distribution contracts and revenue sharing agreements by prohibiting Google from paying to be the initial default search engine on any phone, device, or browser. Google would also be required to share data and information unlawfully obtained through its monopoly power with rivals to improve the competitive choices available to consumers. This data would be shared in a manner that safeguards personal privacy and security.
Additionally, the PFJ seeks the divestiture of Chrome, the Google browser through which a significant percentage of all Google searches are made. Coupled with that request are provisions for additional divestitures, including the Android operating system, if Google fails to comply with specific remedies or if the remedies prove ineffective.
The PFJ would prohibit Google from foreclosing competition or preferencing its own products through its ownership of other products, including Android. The coalition claims that Google cannot make Google Search or Google AI mandatory on Android devices, interfere with rival distribution, degrade rival quality, or leverage distributors to preference Google. The states assert that Google must also give publishers the ability to opt out of having their data collected by Google for training Google’s AI models or used in Generative AI answers.
The states also propose a public education campaign funded by Google to inform consumers what the company did, why it is illegal, and what choices they actually have in search engines. The campaign may include reasonable, short-term payment from Google to users who try non-Google search engines.
The PFJ would establish a five-member technical committee to implement, monitor, and enforce the remedies for 10 years.
A hearing on the proposed remedies is current scheduled to begin on April 22, 2025, and is expected to conclude by May 2, 2025.
Joining AG Campbell in submitting this proposal, led by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, are the attorneys general from Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
In Massachusetts, this matter is being handled by Chief Will Matlack of the AGO’s Antitrust Division.