US court pressures Google to sell Chrome

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has proposed that Google sell the Chrome browser to reduce its dominance in the online search market.

The initiative, presented together with North American states, follows a court decision from August that understands that the company maintained an illegal monopoly on online searches.

Launched in 2008, Chrome holds about 67% of the global browser market and provides Google with valuable data for targeting ads. The North American court called the browser a “critical point” that allows Alphabet, owner of Google, to have control over the end user, but also over the companies that use Google's digital advertising tools.

According to the DOJ, separating Chrome from the company's structure would be essential to create more balanced competition. “The playing field is not fair due to Google’s practices, and Google’s quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an ill-gotten advantage,” government lawyers said. “The remedy must fill this gap and deprive Google of these advantages.”

“Google is a monopoly company and has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” says the document sent to Judge Amit Mehta, who is reviewing the United States' lawsuit against Google in the District of Columbia.

ANDROID AND IN-GAME ADS

North American justice demands that Google provide more transparency and accessibility to the digital advertising market. One of the proposals is for Big Tech to provide more detailed, real-time reports on the performance and cost of digital ads, allowing advertisers to also use competing platforms.

Google will not be able to limit advertisers' ability to export data related to the ads and keywords they use. This aims to reduce switching costs and facilitate migration to competing platforms. The company must end practices that make it difficult to monetize competitors' ads, such as exclusivity contracts and discrimination in the data provided.

Furthermore, Android was also put in the spotlight. According to the DOJ, the operating system used in 71% of the world's mobile devices is another sector in which Google exercises a monopoly.

The DOJ offered Google two choices: either sell the operating system or prohibit Google services from being mandatory on cell phones using Android. The government considered that the first option would raise more objections in the market. The second option should “reduce Google’s ability to use its control of Android for self-advantage.”

Google warned of potential negative impacts on security, privacy and technological innovation.

There have been calls for Alphabet not to enter into paid agreements with Apple and other companies to be the automatically selected search engine on smartphones and browsers.

The government also said that Google should be ordered by the court to allow competing search engines to display the company's results and access its data for a period of a decade.

OTHER SIDE

In response, Google classified the proposals as “extreme” and warned of potential negative impacts on security, privacy and technological innovation. The company is expected to present its own suggestions in December. A hearing to debate the proposed measures is scheduled for April 2025.

Meanwhile, the case raises questions about the future of technology regulation and the ability of governments to confront the growing power of big techswhich today shape the digital market and consumer behavior.

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