European Parliament wants to break Google up into separate companies

European Parliament wants to break Google up into separate companies

European Parliament has drawn up a motion that calls for Google to be broken up into separate companies, to "restore competition in the online market place."

Ever felt like Google was taking of the world? The European Parliament evidently shares that belief.

Indeed, according to a recent report from The Inquirer, Parliament has drawn up a motion that calls for Google to be broken up into separate companies, to resolve antitrust accusations and “restore competition in the online market place.”

Such a motion would be drastic, and if approved by the Parliament’s voting body, would put Google in a tough position. Of course, legal battles are not knew for the search engine giant, especially in Europe. The company has faced antitrust allegations over its domination of the search engine marketplace, as well as over the ubiquity and popularity of the Android mobile operating system.

A proposal to actually break the company apart would be new for Google, though, and would be one of the most drastic business calls in the history of European Parliament as well. It appears as if Parliament is going to propose that Google’s search engine be “unbundled” from other parts of the company, including Android. It is not clear how this move would help to lessen Google’s dominance in either market, or how the decision would open the door for competing companies.

Of course, the European Parliament does not have the power or influence to actually force Google to break apart its operations. The company is based in North America, for one thing, and is big enough that it would be more likely to go to war with European Parliament than consent to their requests.

Still, reports allege that Google’s executives are “furious” at the prospect of being asked to break apart their company. And for good reason: no matter what happens, Google will likely face a dilemma here (and will probably have to spend a huge sum of money to get it resolved). If the company refuses the break-up requests, then European Parliament could lean on legislators and make it hard for Google to do business in Europe. A separation of Google and Android, meanwhile, would bring about a tumultuous upheaval in operations for Google, and indeed, for the technology industry as a whole.

In other words, no matter how European Parliament votes next week, this is a story to watch.

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