Preliminary antitrust remedy proposals for Google have been released, with the possibility of a breakup still on the table.

According to a report by Bloomberg today, a proposal filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on the same day indicates that the agency is considering requiring Google to sell off parts of its business to mitigate the damage caused by monopolizing the online search market.

The document states:

"Behavioral and structural remedies are being considered to prevent Google from using products such as Chrome browser, Play, and Android to give Google Search and Google Search-related products and features (including emerging search access points and features such as AI) an advantage over competitors or new entrants."

The document also mentions that the presiding judge in the monopoly case, Amit Mehta, may also force Google to open access to the underlying data it uses to build search results and AI products.

Furthermore, in this 32-page document, the "remedies" under consideration by the Department of Justice also include:

Limiting Google's investment in the search engine market (potential) competitors or potential competitors;

Requiring Google to allow websites to choose whether to use its AI products;

Requiring Google to provide more information to advertisers and control the placement of advertisements.

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It is reported that the Department of Justice will provide a more comprehensive proposal for remedies next month. If the Google breakup plan is implemented, it will be the largest U.S. company breakup in forty years.Breaking up Google is challenging, and its stock price may still have room to rise.

The U.S. government seems to want to demonstrate its determination to fight monopolies through the Google case.

On August 5th of this year, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Google illegally monopolized the online search market, violating U.S. antitrust laws. Judge Mehta plans to hold a trial on the proposed remedies next spring and issue a final decision by August 2025.

Last month, Jonathan Kanter, head of the Department of Justice's antitrust division, also stated that in order to end and repair the long-term harm caused by monopolies, it is necessary to take preemptive measures to break them up.

Google, on the other hand, has already indicated that it plans to appeal Judge Mehta's decision.

However, from a practical standpoint, breaking up Google is still quite difficult.

Cornell University law professor Erik Hovenkamp said:

"From a practical perspective, breaking up is surprisingly difficult... Judges view breaking up as an extreme remedy that could have unpredictable consequences. For example, the new companies formed after the breakup might be eliminated by the market."

As Google suffers a major setback in the antitrust case, is its stock still worth buying?Analysis indicates that over the past 19 months, Wall Street has set an average target price of $201.64 for Google, implying that there is still a 21.7% upside potential for Google compared to its current price.

So far this year, Alphabet, Google's parent company, has seen its stock price increase by more than 18%.