Google’s at war with regulators, but AI is its biggest threat

Yesterday Google concluded its defence in an antitrust case targeting its ad auction business. The US Justice Department claims the company charges advertisers excessive rates and sends little revenue to publishers.

This follows last week’s DoJ demand that Google sell its Chrome browser and stop exclusive arrangements with Apple and Samsung. A forced sale of Google’s Android mobile operating system is possible.

Also this month: EU antitrust officials are preparing fines over its adtech business; Yelp is suing Google over local search; and UK competition officials are preparing an investigation into the Android mobile ecosystem.

Google has a 90 per cent share of global search and earned $175 billion from it in 2023. Reports that OpenAI is developing a web browser targeting Google may be the greatest threat.

“The dominant tech player doesn’t get out competed,” says Joseph Teasdale of Enders Analysis. “They become redundant as new tech comes along.”