Google has said it would hurt consumers and businesses if it is forced to sell Chrome, the world’s most popular web browser.
Google Chrome PHOTO: Arthiva
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) will propose the measure to a judge on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported. Judge Amit Mehta ruled in August that Google operates an online search monopoly and considered what remedies or penalties to impose. The DOJ has not commented on the report – but Google has made it clear that it is a proposal it opposes, writes bbc.com.
“The DOJ continues to push a radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, chief executive of Google.
It also appears that Google will have to set new measures around its artificial intelligence, Android operating system and data usage.
“For the government to tip its finger in these ways would hurt consumers, developers and America’s technology leadership exactly when it’s needed most.” added Mrs. Mulholland.
Chrome is the most used browser worldwide, with a global market share of 64.61% in October, according to data provided by Similarweb, which tracks web traffic.
Meanwhile, Google search has a nearly 90 percent share of the global search engine market in October, according to Statcounter. This is the default engine in Chrome as well as many smartphone browsers, including Safari on iPhones.
Judge Mehta said in his August ruling that the default search engine is “extremely valuable real estate” for Google.
“Even if a new competitor were qualitatively positioned to bid for the default engine when an agreement expired, such a firm could only compete if it was prepared to pay partners billions of dollars for revenue sharing.” he wrote.
The DOJ was expected to present its final proposed solutions to the court by Wednesday. It said in an October filing documenting initial proposals that it would consider asking for a Google split.
Potential solutions “that would prevent Google from using products like Chrome, Play (its app store) and Android to benefit Google search and Google search-related products” is among his considerations, he declared at the time.
Google has previously denied that it has a monopoly on online search.
In response to the request filed by the DOJ in October, Google said that “the division” parts of its activity such as Chrome or Android would “destroy”.
“Separating them would change their business models, increase the cost of devices and undermine Android and Google Play in their strong competition with the iPhone and Apple’s App Store,” the company said.
It also said it would make it harder to keep Chrome secure.
Revenue from Google’s search and advertising businesses rose 10% to $65.9 billion, according to the company’s latest quarterly results.
Chief executive Sundar Pichai said the company’s AI search tools are now accessed by millions of users. Investors closely watched Google’s stock price on Tuesday following news of the DOJ’s proposed corrective measures.
