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Google ordered to sell Chrome

November 21, 2024

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) wants Alphabet-owned Google to sell its popular Chrome web browser. It is one of a number of remedies – such as sharing data and search results with competitors – proposed by the DoJ in a court filing late aimed at stopping the tech giant from maintaining its monopoly in online search. Google currently controls around 90 per cent of the online search market.

Government lawyers also recommended that District Judge Amit Mehta force the tech giant to stop entering into contracts with companies – including Apple and Samsung – that make its search engine the default on many smartphones and browsers.

The proposed remedies stem from a landmark anti-competition ruling in August, in which Judge Mehta found Google illegally crushed its competition in online search. The DoJ was joined in the filing by a group of US states that argued the changes will help to open up a monopolised market. The case was first filed in the closing months of the first administration of Donald Trump.

“Restoring competition to the markets for general search and search text advertising as they exist today will require reactivating the competitive process that Google has long stifled,” the government lawyers stated.

In response, Google said that with its proposals, the DoJ “chose to push a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America’s global technology leadership.”

“[The] DoJ’s wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court’s decision,” commented Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google. “It would break a range of Google products — even beyond Search — that people love and find helpful in their everyday lives.”

Google is expected to counter with its own proposed remedies by December 20th, according to the BBC. Judge Mehta is set to issue a decision by the summer of 2025.

Responding to the news, Aaron Goldman, Chief Marketing Officer at Mediaocean, said: “Search is the cornerstone of Google’s ecosystem and Chrome is a key source of search traffic. Chrome also serves as a critical source of third-party cookies used by advertisers for targeting their audiences. Any changes to Chrome ownership would have an impact on search distribution and the future of cookie deprecation. While it’s too soon to know what those changes may be, an independent Chrome would need to find ways to monetise including striking search distribution deals and extending the shelf-life of cookies for use in ad targeting. There are also downstream impacts to consider on Google’s adtech business which draws much of it’s strength from search and browser data. Advertisers would be wise to consider independent alternatives when it comes to ad serving to future-proof their businesses.”

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