Google has once again avoided being broken up, despite a formal finding that it has operated an illegal monopoly. A federal judge agreed with prosecutors that Google had rigged the way its customers buy online ads but stopped short of forcing the company to sell the business. It followed a similar finding last year in Googleâs giant search business.
It is the third time in the last year that a judge has decided against breaking up a big tech company (Meta also avoided a divestiture of Instagram and WhatsApp).
The pattern has frustrated liberal antitrust thinkers. âWhy do judges bother to find companies guilty of running a monopoly if theyâre unwilling to break them up?â The American Prospectâs David Dayen wrote. But itâs been a boon for corporate America, which has skirted meaningful remedial antitrust action for years, even under Democratic presidencies. The FTC and DOJ have had more success blocking mergers, but judges donât seem inclined to unwind businesses.