DOJ: Google Must Sell Chrome
DOJ: May Force Google toMust Sell Chrome in Antitrust Push
The Facts
The Department of Justice is now considering asking the judge to force Google to sell its Chrome browser, which currently controls approximately 61% of the browser market in the United States.The US Justice Department (DOJ) in a court filing Wednesday argued that Google, which controls approximately 90% of the online search market, should be forced to sell its Chrome browser and share data with competitors.
Google made substantial annual payments, reaching $26.3 billion in 2021, to device manufacturers including Apple to maintain its search engine as the default option on smartphones and web browsers.The DOJ also asked a federal judge to end Google's payment agreements with devices makers, which make Chrome the default search engine on these devices.
The Spin
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Forcing the sale of Chrome represents a radical agenda that exceeds the scope of the legal issues in question. The proposed breakup would harm consumers, developers, and American technological leadership at a critical time. Chrome and Android are offered freely on an open-source basis, and splitting them from Google would effectively break these services.
