If a judge approves the Justice Department’s proposal, Google’s Chrome browser might be sold for up to $20 billion, marking a significant move against a major tech company.
The department will request the judge, who previously decided that Google had illegally dominated the search market in August, to enforce regulations concerning artificial intelligence and its Android smartphone operating system, as reported by individuals familiar with the situation.
Antitrust officials and states planning to recommend that Judge Amit Mehta require data licensing, as reported by anonymous sources.
If Mehta agrees to the proposals, they could change the online search market and the growing AI industry.
The case was started during Trump’s first term and kept going when President Biden took over.
This is the strongest attempt to control a technology company since Washington tried to split up Microsoft but failed.
two decades ago.
Google’s ads business relies on owning the most popular web browser in the world.
The company can track the actions of users who are signed in and use the information to better target promotions, which make up most of its revenue.
Google is using Chrome to guide users to its main AI product, Gemini, which could transform from a simple answer tool to a helpful web assistant.
If Chrome is sold, it could be valued at a minimum of $15-$20 billion (R271-R361 billion) because it has more than 3 billion active users per month, according to analyst Mandeep Singh from Bloomberg Intelligence.
Bob O’Donnell of TECHnalysis Research said that the price potential buyers are willing to pay might be influenced by their capability to connect Chrome with other services.
He said it cannot be directly turned into money.
It acts as an entrance to other things.
It’s unclear how you calculate that based solely on revenue generation.
Google’s VP of regulatory affairs criticized the Justice Department for pursuing an extreme agenda that extends beyond the legal matters at hand.
She stated that government interference in this manner would negatively affect consumers, developers, and America’s technological leadership just when it is most essential.
Chrome Access
Antitrust regulators are asking the judge to make Google sell Chrome because it is the most popular browser globally and is a major way people access its search engine.
The government may choose to hold off on selling Chrome if other parts of the solution don’t increase competition, sources said.
StatCounter’s web traffic analytics show that Chrome has around 61% of the market share in the US.
Government lawyers recently met with many companies in the past three months to prepare the recommendation.
According to sources, states are still looking at adding some ideas and there might be changes to details.
The officials decided not to pursue a stricter approach that would have required Google to sell its Android business, as reported by the individuals.
Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO, mentioned on CNBC that the advantage of using Chrome is its convenience in creating a seamless experience with Google products, and Google doesn’t directly charge for it.
Splitting up these companies won’t solve the issues you have with them at their core.
Google mentioned in a blog post that if other companies controlled Chrome, they might not put as much money into it or keep it free, and would probably need to alter its way of making money.
Google Appeal
Mehta ruled in August that Google violated antitrust laws in online search and search text ads markets after a 10-week trial last year.
The company stated that it intends to file an appeal.
The judge will hold a two-week hearing in April to decide how Google must fix its illegal actions, with a final decision expected by August 2025.
The agency and states have agreed to suggest that Google should share its search engine results and data through licensing, while also providing websites with more ways to protect their content from Google’s AI tools, as reported by sources.
The antitrust enforcers may suggest that Google should separate its Android phone system from its search engine and app store, which are currently offered together.
They are ready to propose that Google provide advertisers with more details and greater control over ad placement.
In October, lawyers representing the Justice Department and state attorneys general presented several proposals in their initial filing, including a ban on the type of exclusive contracts that were the focus of the case against Google.
If a forced spinoff occurs, it will depend on finding someone interested in buying the business.
Amazon.com Inc., along with other potential buyers who can afford the property, are also being investigated for antitrust issues that could block the deal.
Singh said in an email that he believes this is very unlikely.
However, he mentioned that a possible buyer for the product could be OpenAI, the company behind the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT.
That would expand its reach and advertising revenue options to enhance its chatbot services for customers.
According to Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, a digital advertising and media analyst at Emarketer, a merger with a US-based AI company might pass government review more smoothly than if it was with another major tech company.
The government might approve it to boost AI innovation and improve the US position in the global AI field.
AI Overviews
Google is now showing AI-based answers at the top of search results called “AI Overviews”.
Websites can choose not to let Google use their information for AI models, but they can’t ignore the overviews because that might lower their ranking in search results and make it difficult to reach customers.
Website publishers have expressed concern that the feature decreases website traffic and ad revenue because users seldom click to view the data powering those results.
Antitrust enforcers are planning to suggest that Google offers two choices for data licensing: selling the “click and query” data and also syndicating its search results separately.
The company sells search results that are restricted and cannot be used on mobile devices.
Making Google share its search results would help rival search engines and AI startups enhance their quality faster, and sharing the data would enable others to create their own search engine index.