This US Department of Justice And a group of states asked a federal court late Wednesday to force Google to sell Chrome, its web browser, in a move that could fundamentally change the $2 trillion company’s business and reshape competition on the Internet.
The request follows a landmark ruling in August by US District Court Judge Amit P Mehta for the District of Columbia that found Google illegally maintained a monopoly in online search. Justice Mehta asked the Justice Department and the states bringing the antitrust case to submit solutions to reform the search monopoly by the end of Wednesday.
In addition to selling Chrome, the government asked Judge Mehta to give Google a choice: either sell Android, its smartphone operating system, or bar Google from mandating phones that use Android to operate its services. If Google breaks those terms, or the remedies fail to improve competition, the government could force the company to sell Android at a later date.
The government also asked the judge to prevent Google from entering into paid agreements with Apple and others to become the automatically selected search engine in phones and browsers. Google must allow rival search engines to display the company’s results and access its data for a decade, the government said. The proposals are among the most significant in tech antitrust cases since the Justice Department ordered Microsoft to break up in 2000. If Judge Mehta adopts the proposals, they will set the tone for other antitrust cases challenging tech’s dominance. including the behemoths, Apple, Amazon and Meta.
Being forced to sell Chrome and Android would be one of the worst possible outcomes for Google. Chrome, which was introduced in 2008 and is free to use, is the world’s most popular web browser, accounting for an estimated 67% of the global browser market, according to StatCounter, which compiles tech market data. According to Statcounter, Android is the world’s most popular mobile software, with an estimated 71% market share. The system is open-source, meaning Samsung and other phone makers don’t have to pay Google to use it. But most Android devices come with Google’s apps already installed.
Google is set to file its own proposals to fix the search monopoly by December 20. Both sides may modify their requests before Judge Mehta hears arguments on the remedies this spring. Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, called the government’s proposal “extreme”. “DOJ’s wildly overbroad proposal goes far beyond the court’s decision,” he said. “It will break the ranks of Google products — beyond search — that people love and find helpful in their everyday lives.”
