US Dept. of Justice: Google Must Sell Chrome

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The Facts

  • 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.

  • The DOJ also asked US District Judge Amit Mehta to end Google's payment agreements with device makers, which makes Google Search the default search engine on these devices.

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The Spin

Narrative A

Forcing a 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.

Silicon UK

Narrative B

The forced sale of Chrome is necessary to break Google's monopolistic control over internet search access points and restore market competition. The company's practice of making massive payments to maintain default search status has blocked competitors from gaining market share. This aggressive remedy is essential to prevent Google from dominating emerging technologies like AI.

Verge

Metaculus Prediction