Google may be forced to sell Chrome as part of antitrust deal

US’ Department of Justice (DOJ) is planning to force Google to sell its Chrome browser business to break the company’s monopoly in the search market, according to a Bloomberg report. Additionally, the DOJ is planning to slap more antitrust restrictions on Google’s AI and Android operations. 

Google was accused of monopolizing the search market by the DOJ and 38 US states in a lawsuit filed in 2020. In August 2024, a federal court judge Amit Mehta found Google guilty of illegally establishing a monopoly in online search by paying billions of dollars to smartphone, telecom and browser companies.

“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly. It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act,” the court ruled. The Section 2 of Sherman Act prohibits companies in the US from monopolizing or conspiring to monopolize any part of trade or commerce.

Chrome browser, with 61% of the US browser market share, serves as a primary gateway for users to access Google Search. Forcing Google to spinoff Chrome can significantly curtail the company’s search monopoly and pave the way for other search engine companies to grow.

Google controls 89.33% of the search engine market, according to Statcounter’s October data.  Microsoft Bing with 4.15% market share is the second largest search engine, followed by Russia-based Yandex (2.8%), Yahoo (1.33%), China-based Baidu (0.83%) and DuckDuckGo (0.69%).

Further, the report claims that the DOJ plans to curtail Google’s monopoly over the mobile ecosystem by proposing a separation of Google’s Android operating system from its Search and Google Play services without forcing the company to divest its ownership of Android. The DOJ is also planning to impose restrictions on any unauthorized use of web data by Google to train its AI models.

Additionally, the DOJ wants Google to share more data with advertisers and give them greater control over where their ads appear. This could empower advertisers to negotiate better terms with Google and potentially reduce the company’s advertising revenue.

The Alphabet company is facing another antitrust lawsuit over its alleged monopoly in online advertising.  In January 2023,  the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the company for allegedly forcing advertisers and publishers to use its online ad platforms.

In its response to Bloomberg, Google’s regulatory affairs VP, Lee-Anne Mulholland, said that the DOJ is pushing a radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues.

Google’s monopoly in search, advertising and Android market has been under scrutiny in multiple countries including India. In October 2022, India’s antitrust watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) slapped Google with a fine of Rs 1,337 crore for abusing its dominant position in Android mobile device markets.

CCI also slapped an additional fine of Rs 936 crore on Google for its abusive Play Store policies such as forcing app developers to only use Google Play’s Billing System (GPBS) for receiving payments for apps as well as for in-app purchases.

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