New legislation may be pushed through the European Parliament to facilitate the breakup of Google.
The measures would be put in place to ensure that its services do not constitute a monopoly within the EU, although there is some speculation as to whether the changes will take place.
Google currently has around 90% of the European search market, but it has come under fire from EU officials before over privacy issues. There are also some perceived problems with competition, as European investigators have alleged that the search engine promotes its own products over those of its rivals in results.
One of the directions that the draft legislation might take will be to unbundle Google’s actual search function from its other commercial operations. While this may not directly affect search engine optimisation (SEO) copywriting services acting on the behalf of other companies, it could mean that ads and related products, such as Google Shopping and YouTube, could fall out of the listings.
Some legislators in recent times have voiced their concern over Google’s power in the commercial world, with Axel Springer SE, the German publishing house, adding that it was afraid of the search engine.
However, it has been noted that the European Parliament may be overplaying its hand by taking on the international company’s structure, with the process possibly requiring a draft of new regulations in order to function. On the other hand, such divisions have occurred at major national corporations before, including BT and Deutsche Telekom.
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In 2000, a US federal judge ordered Microsoft to be split into two companies. Wealthy multinationals have a way of getting out of these things.
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