GOOGLE faces being taken apart by the US government in what could be a dramatic break-up of one of the world’s biggest tech firms.
The Department of Justice has said it is considering asking a judge to force Google to sell parts of its empire, such as its Chrome browser or Android operating system.
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It comes amid increasing scrutiny about the dominance of big tech players and monopoly concerns.
However, Google’s parent company Alphabet has accused regulators of being overly “radical” and suggested a break-up could “risk hurting consumers, businesses and developers”.
The announcement comes after a landmark court ruling in August that found Google’s search engine had been illegally exploiting its dominance to hold back competition and stifle innovation.
The US government said it was now considering suggesting remedies that would “stop Google from using products such as Chrome, Play and Android to advantage Google Search and Google Search-related products”.
In its court papers, federal prosecutors said: “For more than a decade, Google has controlled the most popular distribution channels, leaving rivals with little to no incentive to compete for users.
“Fully remedying these harms requires not only ending Google’s control of distribution today but also ensuring Google cannot control the distribution of tomorrow.”
Shares in Alphabet dipped by 1.81 per cent yesterday after the Department of Justice court papers were filed.
However, the technology super giant is still valued at a whopping $1.99trillion (£1.55trillion).
Daniel Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities, said an imminent break-up of Google “is unlikely at this point despite the anti-trust swirls”. He said: “Google will battle this in the courts for years.”
Susannah Streeter, head of markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Regulation has been hovering over Alphabet for years, so shareholders have been pretty sanguine after this latest twist in its tussles with lawmakers.
“It’s likely that this latest rigmarole will result in a multi-year period of appeals and will end in a series of concessions rather than a full break-up.”
Reach for the jars
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POSH grocer Waitrose is going head to head with budget chain LIDL in a ’90s pop battle.
It has recruited Reach singers S Club 7 for a campaign to promote its upmarket No1 range.
The social media advert stars Rachel Stevens and her bandmates crooning a remixed version of their 1999 hit You’re My Number One, and serenading Waitrose’s No1 Dulce de Leche caramel cupcake and seeded sourdoughs.
The link-up comes just days after Lidl called on Martine McCutcheon for a camp rendition of Gina G’s 1996 Ooh Ahh song, with the chorus changed to “Just a Lidl bit” for its latest campaign.
£5bn’s all mine
MINER RIO TINTO has agreed a £5.1billion takeover of a lithium firm, making it the third biggest producer of the metal used in electric car batteries.
The London-listed giant will pay $5.85 a share for Arcadium Lithium — an almost 90 per cent premium on the US firm’s price.
Shares in Arcadium, whose clients include Tesla, are down 60 per cent in a year amid sinking Chinese demand.
Rio Tinto’s Jakob Stausholm said the deal boosts exposure to a high-growth market. Arcadium said shareholders would have certainty.
Sainsbury’s boss in tax plea
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THE boss of Sainsbury’s has argued that extra business costs from the radical reform of workers’ rights need to be balanced with an overhaul of the business rates burden.
The Government will today unveil its Employment Rights Bill which introduces a universal statutory probation period, makes flexible working a default and gives regular workers on zero hours the right to a guaranteed contract.
Simon Roberts, chief executive of the UK’s second biggest supermarket, told The Sun: “We need a fairer system of business taxation and that requires fundamental reform of business rates.
“We will have to wait for the Budget for those details.”
Mr Roberts said he broadly welcomed Labour’s plans to “Make Work Pay” and highlighted the leaning towards a nine-month probationary period as evidence the Government had consulted with businesses.
He agreed two years was too long for workers to wait for rights but said probationary periods were critical for both companies and workers when accepting new jobs to ensure they were the right fit.
Businesses had met with No10 to express concerns that Day One rights could make it harder to hire people or lead to smaller workforces.
Mr Roberts, who started out on the shop floor aged 16, said any extra investment would require firms to “be more efficient and boost productivity”.
Sainsbury’s is one of the biggest UK private employers with 148,000 workers. It has taken on 20,000 extra seasonal staff.
Marston more
PUB group Marston’s raised a glass yesterday after posting a 4.8 per cent increase in like-for-like annual sales.
Sales over the last 13 weeks grew by 3.8 per cent — which it said was a “strong result despite the very wet weather”.
Marston’s has cut its debt by £300million by selling off its historic brewing business to Denmark’s Carlsberg. It has also offloaded 37 pubs to slash its debt pile.
Boss Justin Platt said it was now “in a strong position to drive value for our shareholders as a focused pub business”.
THE housing market is continuing to improve with demand, sales and new listings all growing last month, said the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
A balance of 16% of professionals reported prices increasing, up from a flat 0% in August.
