Today, Google will have one last chance to prove to a federal judge that its advertising business is not a monopoly. The U.S. Justice Department spent several weeks earlier this year arguing that Google maintained too much control over advertising on the Web and used that power to attract customers, leaving little room for competition. The trial ends this week. If it loses, Google may have to make sweeping changes to its core business.

Even if the tech giant emerges from this lawsuit unscathed, a spreading legal firestorm continues to jeopardize everything it has created. For many years, Google’s sprawling empire was subject to few legal controls, allowing the company to freely develop its search engine, browser, operating systems and range of hardware products that intersect to reinforce each other. It’s the overlap in Google’s massive operations that has attracted the attention of government agencies and tech industry rivals, who are determined to dismantle Google’s stronghold piece by piece.

Google now faces threats from all sides: the European Union is investigating its compliance with big tech regulations, the United States is suing over its search and advertising monopolies, Epic is pressuring Google to it opens the Play Store and Yelp targets Google for local search. results. As President-elect Trump takes office, it’s unclear what will happen next. But one thing is certain: this is the most important moment Google has found itself in yet.

The biggest threat to Google is the government’s antitrust lawsuit targeting Google’s search business, which could lead to a major breakup. In August, a federal judge ruled that Google had a monopoly in the online search market. In presenting its case, the DOJ highlighted several aspects of Google’s business, including its billion-dollar deals with companies like Apple and Mozilla to keep Google as its default search engine. According to the DOJ, this deters competitors from launching their own search engines. Justice Amit Mehta agreed, saying this dominance also allowed Google to raise prices for text advertising in search – or sponsored links displayed in Google Search.

To rebalance the market, the DOJ proposed that Google make a radical change: it wants Google to sell its web browser, Chrome. The web browser has been an integral part of Google’s business since its launch in 2008, but the DOJ wants it handed over to a court-approved third party. And the DOJ’s requests don’t stop there, since it also wants to prevent Google from favoring its search engine or browser within its own products, such as Android, YouTube, or its AI chatbot Gemini. Other solutions include opening access to Google’s search syndication system to competitors and allowing websites to opt out of AI previews. If Google is unwilling to comply with these solutions – or if the remedies are not enough to break Google’s monopoly – the DOJ is proposing that Google divest Android as well.

Yelp is also targeting Google’s search engine with its own antitrust case, alleging that Google gives preferential treatment to its own local results. The EU has opened an investigation into Google’s compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the company recently lost a call this would have allowed it to avoid paying a $2.7 billion antitrust fine over allegations that it gave its own shopping results an unfair advantage in Google search.

The Google Play Store is also under fire. In 2020, Epic Games sued Google for claiming it created an illegal monopoly by making it harder for developers and users to access other app stores, while also preventing them from using alternative payment processors in applications. The jury ultimately sided with Epic Games, determining that its Play Store and billing system are illegal monopolies. Last month, Judge James Donato ordered Google to distribute third-party app stores through Google Play, while giving third-party app stores access to all Play Store apps (unless developers opt out). ) for the next three years. Although Judge Donato initially asked Google to comply with his order on November 1, Google was granted a temporary stay that will put most of these changes on hold while Google appeals the decision.

Meanwhile, Google is facing another lawsuit from Epic, which accuses the tech giant of colluding with Samsung to suppress third-party app stores by allowing users to download apps from “authorized sources” on new phones.

Google’s ad tech trial has equally monumental consequences that could shatter its lucrative ad business, which raked in $237.9 billion in 2023. If the DOJ wins its case, a judge could force Google to create tools that would allow third-party companies to use its advertising technology and give them access to Google’s customers. Closing arguments will take place today, but the verdict is not expected for several months — and by then, Trump will be in power.

All of these cases will likely be concluded under the new administration, which could affect their outcome. While President Joe Biden has taken a tougher stance on antitrust enforcement, Trump is expected to take a more hands-off approach to regulation, which has not gone unnoticed by business leaders. But that doesn’t mean Google is safe from the Trump administration. The DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit over Google’s search engine was filed in 2020, when Trump was still president. Trump has also long lambasted Google for allegedly surfacing negative search results about him, a topic he has been particularly vocal about in the months leading up to the U.S. presidential election.

Trump called Google search results ‘rigged’ and threatened pursue criminal charges because of claims that the search engine favored his political opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Although Trump said he would “do something” when asked if he would break up Google, he suggested the current DOJ antitrust lawsuit was “dangerous” because “we don’t want China has” companies like Google.

Even if these lawsuits come to nothing, Google will have to change the way it operates to avoid further anger and legal threats. Whether it’s being more careful when making company acquisitions or thinking twice before prioritizing the results of one of its other products, this new rebuke could lead to harm. In 2019, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said the company failed to beat Android as the “dominant mobile operating system” because it was “distracted” by the government’s antitrust lawsuit in the early 2000s.

A change of tone has already started to take hold at Google. CEO Sundar Pichai appeared to allude to the search engine’s perceived “bias” against Trump and right-wing politicians in an Election Day memo obtained by The edge. “Whoever voters entrust, let’s remember the role we play at work, through the products we build, and as a company: to be a trusted source of information for people of all backgrounds and beliefs “, he wrote. Trump has repeatedly claimed to have spoken with Pichai on the phone, a possible sign that the Google executive is seeking to get on Trump’s good side before he takes office.

Either way, Google has a long fight ahead of it – and it may not emerge from this legal fabric in one piece.