Google reportedly offers to reorganize ad business to head off US antitrust case 

Big Tech is increasingly in the sights of US regulators, and Google is at the top of the list. For the last several years, Google has been the target of a Justice Department probe that observers believe will lead to a Microsoft-style lawsuit seeking to break up the search giant. A new report claims that Google is so concerned about the prospects of a suit, that it's willing to voluntarily reorganize its ad business.

At issue in the investigation is the way Google operates its advertising sales. It participates in the auctions that it runs, and regulators say that gives Google the ability to steer business to itself at the expense of rivals. Naturally, Google disputes this view, but sources claim a lawsuit alleging anticompetitive practices could be filed as soon as this summer. This comes as Google is also attempting to fend off a lawsuit from multiple Attorneys General (led y Texas) claiming similar anticompetitive advertising practices. Although, this suit is led by Texas, where Attorney General Ken Paxton often takes on cases for political reasons. There is also a bill winding through Congress that could force Google to spin off its ad business.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Google believes the noose is tightening and has made several offers to the government in the hope it can avoid an antitrust suit. One recent offer included segregating the advertising business from the rest of Google. However, we're not talking about a sale of spin-off here—Google would simply reorganize its ad sales and placement operations as a new company under the Alphabet banner. So, this theoretical Google ad firm would operate alongside Google, DeepMind, Verily, Waymo, and others.

It is unclear if this action would satisfy the feds, but it doesn't sound promising. Traditionally, regulators have sought to deal with anticompetitive activity from large companies by forcing them to sell off parts of the business. Advertising earned Google USD31.7 billion last year, about 12% of Alphabet's total revenue. Depending on the assets Google bundled up in its new ad subsidiary, it could be valued in the tens of billions. You could argue, as I'm sure regulators will, that simply moving the money around won't change how Google operates.

( Details and picture courtesy from Source, the content is auto-generated from RSS feed.)

Join our official telegram channel for free latest updates and follow us on Google News here.