If Google’s Gemini Assistant AI generative chatbot is to surpass OpenAI’s ChatGPT in popularity in the coming years, it may have to do so without some of the promotional partnerships that have helped put Google Search at the center of Americans’ lives.
Google’s proposal responds to calls last month by the U.S. Department of Justice for Google not only to loosen its grip on partners, but also to share more data with competitors and divest its Chrome browser business. Company on Friday formally rejected the idea of selling any part of your business or giving more information to rivals. And the restrictions it proposes can be interpreted as narrower than those demanded by the government.
The battle follows a ruling last August by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, who found that Google had violated federal antitrust laws through agreements that made it the default search provider on iOS and other software, often in exchange for sharing sharing advertising revenues with other companies. partners. Mehta said default arrangements helped Google gain and retain users, giving it a monopoly on both search and search advertising. The search engine giant was able to raise advertising prices without limits, leading to “dramatic revenue increases” and “exceptionally stable operating profits,” Mehta wrote in his ruling.
Now Mehta must decide what penalties Google will face. His hearings will begin in April and he is expected to announce his decision in August next year.
The emergence of ChatGPT, Gemini and similar chatbots as competitors to time-honored search engines hung over the court proceedings. The Justice Department and several state attorneys general involved in the case wanted to ensure that Google would not be able to transfer its old-school search dominance to this emerging field.
However, even after Mehta’s ruling, appeals are expected. It could be years before any restrictions on Google go into effect. This has made investors bullish about the prospects of Google and its parent company, Alphabet. The conglomerate’s shares are up more than 37 percent in 2024, marking its eighth best annual gain since going public 20 years ago.
Domination Transfer
During this year’s trial period, Google attributed its search dominance to creating an experience that users love. The Justice Department argued that users stick to the default settings on their phones and browsers – often Google. The company’s proposal on Friday emphasized that Google does not want to completely lose these default settings. This would, for example, allow Google to secure the default search state on some Samsung phone models in the US, temporarily suspending the requirement for all of them to do so.
Google may also continue to include offers promoting Gemini. Nothing in Google’s proposal prevents Google from paying Samsung to promote Gemini on all of its devices. However, under the proposed restrictions, Google would not be able to require partners to promote Gemini as a condition of being able to distribute the search engine, Chrome browser or Google Play app store. It also wouldn’t be able to stop partners from working with rival AI companies like OpenAI.