The U.S. Justice Department is weighing the possibility of breaking up Alphabet Inc.’s Google following a significant court ruling that deemed the company to have monopolized the online search market. This potential action would be the first major push by Washington to dismantle a tech giant for illegal monopolization since the Microsoft case two decades ago.

Alternative Measures Also on the Table
While a complete breakup is under consideration, the Justice Department is also exploring less drastic measures. These could include forcing Google to share data with competitors and imposing regulations to prevent the company from gaining an unfair advantage in AI technology. The discussions have intensified after Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling on August 5, which concluded that Google had monopolized the search and search text ads markets.

Impact on Alphabet and Future Implications
The ruling has already impacted Alphabet’s financial performance, with shares falling by 3.8% shortly after the decision. If the Justice Department proceeds with a breakup, units like Android and Chrome might be divested. Another possibility is the sale of AdWords, the platform responsible for the majority of Google’s advertising revenue.

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