Note that having a functional monopoly through simply being popular is not illegal, it's practices which unfairly protect or exploit that market power that can be illegal.
The article goes into some candidates for activities that might be judged abuses, such as buying the default search slot on iPhones. Another might be unfairly promoting Google properties, and artificially burying competitors in search results. Another area that might be looked at is Google providing various free services such as Gmail and Google Docs, essentially subsidised by search revenue, in order to squeeze out competitors from possible revenue streams.
Having said that, this is mostly a shakedown. If Google would just set up a PAC and cough up I'm sure this will all just go away.
The article goes into some candidates for activities that might be judged abuses, such as buying the default search slot on iPhones. Another might be unfairly promoting Google properties, and artificially burying competitors in search results. Another area that might be looked at is Google providing various free services such as Gmail and Google Docs, essentially subsidised by search revenue, in order to squeeze out competitors from possible revenue streams.
Having said that, this is mostly a shakedown. If Google would just set up a PAC and cough up I'm sure this will all just go away.