The Justice Department initiates proceedings to dismember Google and end its digital monopoly

Dismember Google to remedy its digital 'monopoly'. This seems to be the idea of the US Department of Justice, which just yesterday opened yet another case against Big G, recently accused by a federal judge of monopoly in online advertising.

This time the issue seems even more delicate. Because it is precisely from the DoJ that they have made it known that the best way to deal with Google's monopoly in Internet search is to break up the company, today valued at $1.8 trillion: a long legal session now begins (it will last three weeks) that could redefine the technological giant and reshuffle the cards among the Silicon Valley powers.

It should be recalled that last August, Judge Amit P. Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Google had violated antitrust laws to maintain its dominant position in online search. And now he is hearing arguments from the government and the company on how to correct this monopoly. The judge's final decisions - corrective measures referred to as 'remedies' - are expected to arrive by the end of next summer. Ergo: the next five months look crucial for Google's future.

In its opening statement at Monday's hearing, the government asked Judge Mehta to force Google to sell its popular Chrome browser, which directs users to its search engine. Government lawyers also said the company should take measures to favour competitors.

Google, for its part, has always made it clear that consumers choose its search engine because it is better than competitors such as Bing or DuckDuckGo, and has emphasised that it constantly invests in improving it.