The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly hoping to require Google to sell Chrome, the world’s most popular web browser — it’s even preferred by a majority of Mac users.
And this is just one of the possible consequences of a federal judge ruling this autumn that Google is a monopolist.
Chrome browser might be sold off by court order
Judge Amit Mehta ruled in August that Google holds an illegal monopoly on search. The judge has not yet decided what remedies to take to end the monopoly, however. The DoJ has some ideas.
“Top Justice Department antitrust officials have decided to ask a judge to force Alphabet Inc.’s Google to sell off its Chrome browser,” Bloomberg reported late Monday.
The DoJ reportedly decided not to ask that Google be required to sell off the Android operating system.
What does this mean for users?
Source: StatCounter Global Stats – Browser Market Share
Judge Mehta’s eventual decision will affect millions of people. Chrome is the most-used browser by a wide margin, with 66.6% of the market in October, according to statcounter. And macOS users turn to Google’s browser at almost the same rate.
But exactly how separating Chrome from Google will affect users is not yet clear. The application is currently free because it’s one of Google’s best tools to track users. The tracking data goes into extensive user profiles, which are then used to target individuals with advertisements. Google gets 76% of its revenue from advertising.
A mention by Bloomberg that the DoJ wants the federal judge to “impose data licensing requirements” might indicate that Alphabet would be blocked from simply spinning Chrome off into a separate company that exists solely to funnel user data to Google.
That said, the transition to the new Trump administration in 2025 might change the equation.
“Though the forced sale of Chrome would be a dramatic turn of events for Google, the incoming administration is likely going to upend many of the DOJ’s current plans, perhaps including its prosecutorial strategy in this case,” said Damian Rollison, SOCi’s director of market insights. “If, however, despite the pro-business leanings of the new president, the government decides to pursue this strategy and prevails in court, it will represent the first major strike against Google’s market dominance in its 26-year history, and a possible harbinger of bad news for multiple large tech firms who are also in the government’s crosshairs.”
