The U.S. Department of Justice is considering recommending the spin-off of some of Google's businesses to mitigate the damage to its monopoly in the online search market.

Odaily News The U.S. Justice Department told a federal judge that it is considering recommending that Google be forced to sell parts of its business to mitigate the damage caused by its monopoly over the online search market. In a court filing on Tuesday, the Justice Department said Judge Amit Mehta could also force Alphabet to provide the underlying data used to build search results and artificial intelligence products. The Justice Department said in the filing that it is "considering behavioral and structural remedies to prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play and Android to gain an advantage over competitors or new entrants in Google Search and Google Search-related products and features." Google has gained scale and data benefits by signing illegal distribution agreements with other technology companies to make its search engine the default option for smartphones and web browsers. This is the first time that authorities have split up a company on the grounds of illegal monopoly since the failed effort to split Microsoft 20 years ago. (Jinshi)