The US Justice Department’s proposed ruling aims to force Google to sell its Chrome internet browser and prohibit it from paying to be listed as the default search engine.
Pushing Google to sell Chrome would separate the company’s browser from its search engine and create more competition in the online search market.
For the record, Google pays several billion dollars each year to Apple and Mozilla to remain the default search engine for Safari and Firefox. The proposed judgment could notably cause Apple to lose between $18 and $20 billion in revenue from the Mountain View technology giant.
The draft ruling also suggests Google get rid of Android, its mobile operating system, and stop collecting data for artificial intelligence (AI) without prior agreement. The sale of Android is not an obligation but it could come.
“For more than a decade, Google has illegally maintained its monopolies in general online search services and search term advertising through a web of anticompetitive practices.”said the US Department of Justice in a document submitted to Judge Amit Mehta. “These remedies aim to free monopolized markets from Google’s exclusionary practices, open monopolized markets to competition, remove barriers to entry and ensure that no practices persist likely to result in illegal monopolization”defends the US Department of Justice. “Google must quickly and completely get rid of Chrome.”
Among the Ministry’s other proposals: opening Google’s advertising activities to competition and setting up choice screens.
These are proposals submitted for the examination of Judge Amit Mehta who is not expected to rule before the end of 2025. Even after his decision, it is difficult to imagine that there will not be an appeal .
Unsurprisingly, Google took the lead and described the proposed corrective measures as “a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America’s global technological leadership”. In addition, the Mountain View giant believes that the legal process would hinder its investment in artificial intelligence.
As a reminder, Chrome currently wants between 15 and 20 billion dollars because the browser has more than 3 billion monthly active users.
Judge Mehta has scheduled a two-week hearing in April 2025, during which he will focus on determining what changes Google must make to remedy what is seen as an illegal monopoly.
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