U.S. regulators are proposing aggressive measures to restore competition to the online search market after a federal judge ruled Google maintained an illegal monopoly for the last decade.
The sweeping set of recommendations filed late Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice could radically alter Google’s business, including possibly spinning off the Chrome web browser and syndicating its search data to competitors. Even if the courts adopt the blueprint, Google isn’t likely to make any significant changes until 2026 at the earliest, because of the legal system’s slow-moving wheels.
Here’s what it all means:
What is the Justice Department’s goal?
Federal prosecutors are cracking down on Google in a case originally filed during near the end of then-President Donald Trump’s first term. Officials say the main goal of these proposals is to get Google to stop leveraging its dominant search engine to illegally squelch competition and stifle innovation.
“The playing field is not level because of Google’s conduct, and Google’s quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired,” the Justice Department asserted in its recommendations. “The remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these advantages.”
Not surprisingly, Google sees things much differently. The Justice Department’s “wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court’s decision,” Kent Walker, Google’s chief legal officer, asserted in a blog post. “It would break a range of Google products — even beyond search — that people love and find helpful in their everyday lives.”
It’s still possible that the Justice Department could ease off on its attempts to break up Google, especially if President-elect Donald Trump takes the widely expected step of replacing Jonathan Kanter, who was appointed by President Joe Biden to oversee the agency’s antitrust division.
Why focus on Chrome?
Regulators want Google to sell off its industry-leading Chrome web browser, though the filing did not specify who would ultimately buy the business or how that process would work.
Justice lawyers called Chrome a “gateway to the internet” that provides the search giant with data it then uses for targeted advertising. Regulators believe that asking Google to divest Chrome would create a more equal playing field for search competitors.
Chrome also is included in the set of apps bundled with Android on phones as part of a mobile device ecosystem that regulators say gives Google a big edge.
Chrome is the world’s most popular mobile web browser, with about 67% adoption globally, according to StatCounter. Apple’s Safari browser has the next highest adoption at 18%.