Is forced data sharing the key to breaking Google’s search monopoly

Google’s future hangs in balance as a US federal court will decide over the next few weeks how to penalize the company and break its search monopoly. Forcing Google to sell Chrome and share its search data with rival search engines are some of the remedies suggested by the Department of Justice (DOJ), which along with 38 US states had filed the lawsuit in 2020. 

In November 2024, the federal court found Google guilty of illegally establishing a monopoly in online search by paying billions of dollars to OEMs and browser companies. This week, the federal court began the ‘remedy hearing’ proceedings of that case. Several witnesses, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, are expected to testify during the hearing. 

Google is the most popular search engine in the world with 89.74% of the market share as of March, according to Statcounter, a market tracker.  In comparison, Microsoft Bing is far behind with just 4% share, while Yandex (2.49%), Yahoo (1.33%), DuckDuckGo (0.79%), and Baidu (0.62%) account for the rest of the global search market. 

Over the years, Google came up with a series of questionable methods to put its search and browser on millions of touchpoints. One of them was a deal with Apple to make Google the default search engine on Safari browser on Mac, iPad and iPhones. Google reportedly paid $18 million annually to Apple for it. 

Deals like this have allowed Google to acquire prime mobile real estate on mobile devices as most users prefer to use the default search engine on the mobile browser. 

Larger user base means more search queries, providing Google with richer data on user intent. Google uses this information to further improve the search algorithm and deliver more relevant search results over time. 

To be sure, Google reportedly processes 3.5 billion searches daily, while DuckDuckGo sees 100 million daily searches. The sheer volume of data Google collects gives it a strategic edge over rivals.

Meanwhile, lack of access to this data has deprived rival search engines from gaining valuable insights into user behavior and search trends, thereby blocking their ability to improve and scale their search products. 

Chrome browser, with 61% of the US browser market share, serves as a primary gateway for users to access Google Search.

If the court decides to force the sale of Chrome to another company, the Alphabet company will lose an easy avenue to offer Google search as default search engine on Android devices. Chrome is also integral to Google's advertising business as it allows them to collect data about browsing habits of users for targeted ads. 

Even if OEMs ask users to choose a search engine on Chrome instead of offering anything by default, most users are likely to go with Google Search, simply because its search results are superior to that of rivals. So, taking away Chrome might help rivals gain some market share, but it won’t end Google’s dominant position in the search market. 

To break Google’s search monopoly in the real sense, the court needs to force Google to license/share its search queries and results data with rival search engines. This will allow rivals to improve their search algorithm and eventually provide them a level-playing field. 

However, it won’t be easy. Google has said that it will challenge the court’s ruling once the remedy hearing is over.  

Under EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Google is already required to provide rival search engines access to its ranking, query, click and view search data. Last month, EU’s top antitrust regulators, search engines companies, and advocacy groups wrote to the European Commission claiming that Google’s compliance with the DMA regarding data sharing has been insufficient. 

Some rivals such as DuckDuckGo want greater access to Google search data, including a real-time application programming interface (API) to search queries. This will allow rivals to get a better understanding of current search trends, user intent and how Google’s algorithm ranks results. Google has argued that this will compromise user privacy and lead to misuse of data. 

In a separate case, Google was found guilty by a US federal court last week of monopolizing the ad server market and ad exchange market, which are used by publishers and advertisers to buy and sell online display ads. 

Image credit: Pixabay