The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to force Google to sell its popular Chrome browser.
Matt Slocum/AP
hide caption
change the caption
Matt Slocum/AP
The Justice Department wants Google to put its Chrome browser on the auction block.
Justice attorney last Wednesday night asked a federal judge overseeing a historical antitrust cases told Google to let the tech giant sell its popular Chrome browser, which could disrupt the world of online search.
The agency also asked Google to stop making third-party payments to phone makers like Apple that guarantee default search positions.
Google’s artificial intelligence technology is also targeted by the Justice Department’s proposal. In the filing, the government asked the judge to allow websites to choose not to have data trained by an AI model that calculates the data.
And finally, Justice lawyers asked Google to get rid of the Android phone business or ask the court to monitor the Android division to police whether Google is using Android to compete with kneecaps.
“The playing field has not been leveled by Google’s actions, and Google’s quality reflects its illegally obtained benefits,” the Justice Department wrote in its final proposed ruling.
around 90% search done with Google, and Chrome is the most popular web browser.
The tech company’s highly profitable advertising business is fueled by data obtained from user activity on Chrome and Google searches.
Forcing Google to sell Chrome, according to Justice Department officials, would split the company’s browser from its search engine and create more competition in the online search market.
In a statement on Wednesday, Google called the Justice Department’s proposal “surprising,” saying that, if implemented, it would undermine security and privacy for users and stifle Google’s innovation.
“The DOJ’s approach will result in unprecedented government overreach that will harm American consumers, developers, and small businesses — and jeopardize America’s global economic and technological leadership at a time when it is most needed,” Google said in a statement.
The Justice Department’s new filing on Wednesday follows decision in August that Google has preserved its crown jewel search engine dominance by acting as an illegal monopoly. This was done, according to the judge’s verdict, unfairly against the competition of search engines in order to increase their own. Google achieves this by making expensive deals with browser and phone manufacturers to ensure it has the default place as the search browser, leaving other search engines at a disadvantage.
The decision was heralded as an important victory for the Justice Department, which has increased pressure on tech companies in recent years.
If the court approves the Justice Department’s request, it will mark the first time the company has been forced to break up since 1982, when AT&T had to spin off local phone subsidiaries to allow for greater industry competition.
In 2001, the Justice Department unsuccessfully tried to destroy Microsoft.
Now, federal judge in the District of Columbia Amit Mehta must consider whether letting Google dismantle Chrome is the best way to inject more competition into the online search market.
In her August opinionMehta wrote that Google paying billions of dollars for smartphone manufacturers like Apple to become the default search engine on phones, strengthening their influence over online searches.
“Google’s dominance has been insurmountable for more than a decade,” writes Mehta, noting that “Google also has a key advantage that its competitors don’t see: standardized distribution.”
Mehta has scheduled a two-week hearing in April in Washington focused on what changes Google needs to make to address its position as an illegal monopoly. A decision is expected in 2025.
