DOJ aims to force Google to sell its Chrome browner
By: Jonathan Limehouse
USA today
..... The U.S. department of Justice aims to force the sale of Google Chrome, which could fetch as much as $20 billion if a federal judge agrees to the browser's sale, Bloomberg reported, a potentially huge blow th the world's second-largest technology company.
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The fate of the Chrome browser owned by Alphabet Incorporated, the parent holding company of Google, is in the hands of U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who ruled in August [2024] that Google illegally monopolized the search opinion obtained by USA Today.
..... Alphabet Incorporated paying a total of 426 billion in 2021 to make Chrome the default option on smartphones and web bowers blocked other competitors from succeeding in the same market, Mehta ruled, according to Bloomberg News, which cited people familiar with the plans.
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"Google's dominance has gone unchallenged for well over a decade," according to Mehta's memorandum opinion.
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USA Today contacted Google's attorneys and the Justice Department on Wednesday [11/20/2024] but did not immediately receive a response.
..... The Justice Department asked Mehta to set requirements for Google's artificial intelligence and Android smartphone operating system, Bloomberg reported, citing "people familiar with the plans."
..... Antitrust officials and states that have joined the suit field by the original plaintiff, Colorado, had planned to recommend that Mehta enforce data licensing requirements, Bloomberg reported, again citing the people who ask not to be named.
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Some of the states that have joined the suit include Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, Texas, South Carolina, Montana, Florida, Mississippi, Wisconsin, California, Michigan, assassins, Washington, Louisiana and Kentucky, court records sow.
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The next status conference for the case is on November 26, [2024] Distinct of Columbia court records show.
What would sale mean?
..... Google selling Chrome would affect the company's advertising business. Alphabet Incorporated currently has a market capitalization of more than $2 trillion, and "much of that value is due to Google's extremely profitable advertising business." according to Mehta's memorandum opinion.
..... Chrome is the most used browner in the U.S., with 61% of the market, according to web traffic analytics firm StatCounter.
..... Google also used Chrome to direct people to Gemini, the company's AI product, which could go from an answer-bot to an assistant that follows users around the web, Bloomberg reported.
..... "The integration of generative AI is perhaps the clearest example of competition advancing search quality," Mehta's memorandum pinon reads.
..... During President-elect Donald Trump's first term, he led the Justice Department's antitrust suit against Google in 2020 after ti deemed the company used illegal tactics and strategies to monopolize seas engines. It is unclear if Trump will continue to support the DOJ's efforts against Google.