Sundar Pichai says DOJ demands are a “de facto” spin-off of Google search

The Department of Justice (DOJ) rested its case in Google's search remedy trial earlier this week, giving Google a chance to push back on the government's attempt to break up the search giant. Today is arguably Google's best chance to make the case that it should not be harshly penalized in the ongoing search antitrust case, with CEO Sundar Pichai taking the stand.

Pichai attempted to explain why Google isn't abusing its market position and why the DOJ's proposed remedies are too extreme. The issue of Chrome divestment came up, but Google's team also focused intensely on the potential effects of the DOJ's data remedies, which could force Google to share its search index and technology with other firms.

A de facto spin-off

Pichai, who chose to stand while giving testimony, took issue with the government's proposal to force Google to license search technology to other companies. The DOJ claims that Google's status as a monopolist has resulted in it accumulating a huge volume of user data on search behavior. Plus, its significant technological lead means its index of the web is much more robust than competing services.

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