Alissa Cooper
@alissacooper.bsky.social
1.6K followers 660 following 65 posts
Executive Director of the Knight-Georgetown Institute at Georgetown University
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Alissa Cooper
knightgtown.bsky.social
New @nytimes.com: @juliaangwin.com explains how the US v. Google remedies ruling could further entrench Google’s search dominance.

KGI’s @alissacooper.bsky.social notes “[t]he remedies here are unlikely to create the circumstances for competitive entry in search.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/o...
Opinion | Google Wins, We Lose
www.nytimes.com
alissacooper.bsky.social
Very excited to host Jonathan Sallet at Georgetown next week! Come hear directly from a lead litigator in U.S. v. Google search. Free lunch for those joining in person, or live stream for those joining remotely. Registration required.
knightgtown.bsky.social
🚨Event alert! “Google Search: A View from the Counsel’s Table”

Join us Oct 8 (in person or virtually) as Jonathan Sallet, lead litigator for the State Plaintiffs in the US v. Google search antitrust case, breaks down the case and the remedies ruling.

Register: www.eventbrite.com/e/google-sea...
Reposted by Alissa Cooper
knightgtown.bsky.social
We're speaking at two #TSRConf sessions today at 11:30am PT. @alissacooper.bsky.social's “Fixing the Feeds: A Policy Road Map to Address Algorithmic Recommender System Harms” will provide insights on how algorithms can be better designed to put user well-being and long term user value first.
Reposted by Alissa Cooper
leticiabode.bsky.social
Come hang out with us and talk about data access! #tsrconf
knightgtown.bsky.social
Also at 11:30am PT, @leticiabode.bsky.social cohosts a workshop w/ @naomishiffman.bsky.social, @angieholan.bsky.social & @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social “Let’s Share: A Framework for Researcher Access to Publicly Available Platform Data” to preview our new framework! Be sure to join + say hello #TSRConf
alissacooper.bsky.social
DCC 2026 -- our annual competition conference bringing together researchers, policy experts and practitioners -- is accepting paper submissions until October 13. Get those fingers typing ...
knightgtown.bsky.social
🚨Antitrust & digital competition are in the news almost daily – from decisions issued in cases against Google search and ad tech to DMA enforcement actions involving Apple and Meta and new private litigation in multiple jurisdictions. 👇
alissacooper.bsky.social
Thanks to @sumitecon.bsky.social for reminding us that the CMA has done the world a public service through thorough investigation of the search market. Too bad the US court did not consider what the CMA already found about limited search syndication serving as a barrier, not a boost, to competition.
alissacooper.bsky.social
Much more to come as this opinion gets digested ...
alissacooper.bsky.social
Lastly -- to the question of what evidence are we relying on here? -- the opinion seemingly buys into the narrative that Google and its witnesses shared at trial about the technical infeasibility of the Chrome divestiture.
alissacooper.bsky.social
Importantly, while AI companies “may yet prove to be game changers” the court itself has found that “Google is a monopolist” and the hypothetical future does not eliminate the need to resolve the existing present.
alissacooper.bsky.social
The contrast of this adoption of common AI hype narratives by the same court that meticulously analyzed evidence to establish its general search market definition and liability finding is stark.
alissacooper.bsky.social
The opinion relies heavily on testimony from actors whose business interests benefit from the public perception and belief that generative AI is competitive and growing explosively.
alissacooper.bsky.social
The opinion claims that the “GenAI space is highly competitive” even though the basis for this claim falls far short of what would be expected if generative AI were the market that was the subject of the litigation.
alissacooper.bsky.social
After issuing a liability opinion thoroughly supported by findings of harm in the existing search market, the remedy opinion relies on speculation about future competitive benefit in adjacent markets.
alissacooper.bsky.social
While the opinion includes remedies whose stated purpose is to address both access to distribution and access to data for quality improvement, the hollow approach in both cases is not likely to spur competition.
alissacooper.bsky.social
The court’s opinion pays lip service to the well-supported finding that a package of remedies is required to address the interlocking, mutually reinforcing dynamics of the search market.
alissacooper.bsky.social
The impact of those has been negligible (less than 1% change in Google’s market share) because the OEMs’ total dependence on Android to operate in the market rendered the contractual changes impotent. That dependence is as strong in the US as it is in the EU, so we can expect the same result.
alissacooper.bsky.social
At KGI we think a lot about concrete evidence. Seven years ago, the European Commission instituted contractual prohibitions in its Google Android case that were of a similar nature to those included by the court here.
alissacooper.bsky.social
Despite mentioning five times the finding that the search market is “frozen,” this logic would leave innovation and dynamism in that market suppressed by keeping defaults locked only to the highest bidder.
alissacooper.bsky.social
The court appeared to view potential harm to businesses like Apple, Samsung, and Mozilla that rely on default payments from Google’s monopoly profits as a reason to preserve Google’s payments.
alissacooper.bsky.social
See also "Judicial Remedies to Restore Lost Competition in the Market for General Search" for an economic analysis of entry barriers and a demonstration of how the court could have facilitated a partial payment ban. www.michiganstatelawreview.org/forum2024202... @proffionasm.bsky.social
Judicial Remedies To Restore Competition in the Market for General Search"Spring Symposium: Connected-Vehicle Techonology and the Law"
www.michiganstatelawreview.org
alissacooper.bsky.social
This happened despite the court receiving multiple proposals for partial payment bans, including from Motorola (to exempt small mobile device vendors) and Mozilla (to exempt independent browsers).