Break-ups are never easy. But one could be on the cards for Google’s $2tn empire. On Tuesday, the US Department of Justice recommended splitting up the company — spanning its Chrome browser, Play app store and Android operating system — as one of several options to remediate the Big Tech group’s “anti-competitive conduct”. The suggestion follows a landmark court decision in August when a federal judge, Amit Mehta, branded Google a “monopolist”. He said deals it had made with wireless carriers, browser developers and device manufacturers, including Apple, had helped to tighten its hold over the online search market.
分家从来都不容易。但谷歌市值2万亿美元的帝国很可能会落入这样的境地。周二，美国司法部建议拆分该公司——包括其Chrome浏览器、Play应用商店和Android操作系统——作为纠正这家大型科技集团“反竞争行为”的多个选项之一。这一建议是在8月份法院作出一项具有里程碑意义的裁决之后提出的，当时联邦法官阿米特•梅塔将谷歌形容为“垄断者”。他说，该公司与无线运营商、浏览器开发商和包括苹果在内的设备制造商达成的协议，帮助谷歌加强了对在线搜索市场的控制。