Google and Chrome: US Government Asks Tech Company to Sell Its World’s Most Used Browser (And the Company’s Strong Reaction)
Image Source, Reuters
- Author, Lily Jamali
- Author’s title, BBC technology correspondent
The US Department of Justice has asked Google to sell Chrome, the world’s most used browser.
That’s one of the measures the agency proposed in a court filing late Wednesday to force the tech giant to give up its monopoly on online search.
Government lawyers also recommended that Judge Amit Mehta force the company to stop signing contracts with companies like Apple and Samsung that are seeking to make their search engine the default on phones and browsers.
The document, outlining the recommendations and measures Google will need to take, follows a landmark ruling by Judge Mehta in August, which concluded that Google has illegally crushed its competitors.
A group of states joined the Justice Department’s statement. They argued that the proposed changes would open up a now monopolized market.
“Restoring competition in the general search and text search advertising markets as they currently exist will require reviving the competitive process that Google has long suppressed,” government lawyers wrote to the court.
In its response, Google said the Justice Department “has decided to pursue legal proceedings.” radical interventionist program it will harm Americans and America’s global technology leadership.”
Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, called the Justice Department’s proposal “wildly overblown” and said it “goes much further than the court’s decision.”
“This will change a number of Google products, even outside of search, that people love and find useful in their daily lives,” Walker said.
Google is expected to respond to the government’s demand for damages of its own by December 20. The judge’s decision is expected in the summer of 2025.
Google searches account for approximately 90% of the world’s total searches.According to web traffic analysis company Statcounter.
Justice Department officials noted that Google’s ownership of Chrome and its Android operating system allowed the company to redirect users to its search engine.
In another section, the government asks that Google be barred from returning to the browser market for five years.
Also Judicial control over Android proposed ensure that the company refrains from using its ecosystem to privilege its own search services and advertising.
Waiting for Trump
Image Source, Getty Images
The DOJ’s original lawsuit against Google was filed in the final months of Donald Trump’s first presidency (2017-2021).
Now, as he prepares to return to the White House on January 20, Doubts have been expressed as to whether his government would change its strategy in this case..
“It would be strange if they withdrew the lawsuit they filed,” said Rebecca Allensworth, a professor at Vanderbilt Law School.
Even if Trump wanted to stop the process, which Vanderbilt says is unlikely, states that came forward could move forward.
The expert believes that “the federal government will continue to move forward, but how much force it will use and what it will ask for is unknown.”
According to Laura Phillips-Sawyer of the University of Georgia School of Law, the proposed changes will play an important role in restoring competition in the web search market.
“The user data Google gained from its dominance in search helped it fine-tune its search algorithm and sell advertising.”explains Phillips-Sawyer.
“However, these contracts have also made it impossible for any new player to secure a distribution channel, and without the ability to reach consumers, no one is going to invest in innovation.”
The expert believes that if the judge accepts the Justice Ministry’s proposals, Google’s potential competitors will have a chance to prosper.
Subscribe here Sign up for our new newsletter to receive a selection of the week’s best stories every Friday.
And remember that you can receive notifications in our application. Download the latest version and activate them.