Earlier this August, United States courts ruled that Google is an illegal monopoly, but stopped short of instituting any penalties. Now, the Department of Justice is outlining some pretty ambitious goals, the most demanding of which would require Google to sell off Chrome.
Microsoft’s breakup never came to fruition, with the government instead choosing to settle with the Windows maker, but for now, at least, it appears that DOJ is coming after Google with full force.
In a 23-page document filed late Wednesday afternoon, the DOJ recommended that courts require Google to sell off the Chrome browser, and possibly Android, too, if the company doesn’t follow restrictions that would keep Google from favoring its search tools within the mobile operating system. The move comes as a bit of a surprise, as neither product is directly related to the key issue of Google paying other companies to prioritize Google search within their ecosystems.
Why does the government want Google to sell Chrome?
Defending its aggressive proposal, the DOJ argues that breaking up Google would also have the desired effect, saying that selling Chrome “will permanently stop Google’s control of this critical search access point and allow rival search engines the ability to access the browser that for many users is a gateway to the internet.”
In other words, if Chrome is no longer associated with Google, it will no longer have any impetus to default to Google search, perhaps giving other search engines a chance to get their foot in the door of what has become the default internet browser for many.
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