Google’s counteroffer to the government trying to break it up is to unbundle Android apps

The Justice Department’s list of solutions to fix Google’s illegal antitrust behavior and restore competition in the search engine market started with forcing the company to sell Chrome, and late Friday night Google responded with a its own list (included below).

Rather than disrupting Chrome, Android or Google Play, as the DOJ’s filing contemplates, Google’s proposed fixes target the payments it makes to companies like Apple and Mozilla for exclusive, priority placement of their services, and its licensing agreements with companies that make Android phones and contracts with wireless carriers. They do not address a proposal by the DOJ to possibly force Google to share its valuable search data with other companies to help their products catch up.

According to Google’s lawyersThe ruling pointed to agreements with Apple and Mozilla for their browsers, the companies that make Android phones and wireless carriers. Google Regulatory VP Lee-Anne Mulholland writes on the company blog“This was a decision on our search distribution contracts, so our proposed remedies are aimed at that.

For three years, its proposal would block Google from signing agreements linking licenses for Chrome, Search and its Android app store, Google Play, to the placement or pre-installation of its other apps, including Chrome, Google Assistant or the Gemini AI assistant.

It would also still allow Google to pay for default search placement in browsers, but allow for multiple offers across different platforms or browsing modes and require the ability to revisit the offers at least once a year.

While the company still plans to appeal Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling, which said, “Google is a monopolist and it has acted as one to preserve its monopoly,” it first says it will submit a revised proposal on March 7, before for a two-week trial of the issue in April.