9 October 2024
If you are covering the Department of Justice’s initial package of remedies against Alphabet’s search engine monopolisation, please find below a comment from Ben Barringer, technology analyst at Quilter Cheviot:
“The Department of Justice in the US has delivered its first strike in its attempt to curb Alphabet’s search engine power. It has cast the net fairly wide in its list of potential remedies but for now the detail remains incredibly shallow. The share price was unmoved on the news, as the proposed range of remedies was in line with fears.
“Ultimately this is the opening salvo and the more extreme elements proposed may or may not remain. Ultimately the DoJ is looking to level the playing field in search, and given Google’s scale it is no surprise to see things such as divestment and opening up data on the cards for change. If these changes were to take effect it would be a huge change in how people and businesses use and interact with the internet in their daily lives, so this is clearly a high stakes game of poker just now.
“But for now not a lot changes, and this will put a lid on investor enthusiasm for Alphabet for this year and most of next, until more is known. Next month sees the next stage of the process with the DoJ’s final remedy package revealed before it goes before judges in April. Simply put this will be a long drawn-out process with lots of negotiation still to take place. However, the DoJ has fired a shot across the bow of Alphabet.”
