Google Monopoly Crackdown: Chrome’s Future in Jeopardy

The U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust division is reportedly planning to ask a judge to require Google to sell its Chrome browser, according to people familiar with the matter, reports Bloomberg.

The move follows an August ruling that Google illegally monopolized the search market and could mark a significant effort to reshape the tech industry.

Sources say the department, alongside participating states, is recommending measures that address Google’s search engine, artificial intelligence tools, and its Android operating system that’s widely used on smartphones.

They are also pushing for Google to license its search data and results to other companies and provide advertisers with more control over ad placements. Google controls about 90% of the global search engine market, which gives it a huge advantage as it gets billions of search queries daily, offering advertisers a massive audience.

The proposals come amid ongoing concerns about Google’s dominance. Chrome is the world’s most-used browser and has 61% market share in the U.S.; the browser is seen as a key tool that funnels users to Google Search (Chrome also loves eating up your computer’s RAM).

The Justice Department “continues to push a radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, in a statement. “The government putting its thumb on the scale in these ways would harm consumers, developers and American technological leadership at precisely the moment it is most needed.”

The department could decide later whether a Chrome sale is essential if other fixes fail to create a more competitive market.

The Justice Department had considered more extreme measures, including forcing Google to divest Android, but ultimately scaled back. A two-week hearing on potential fixes is scheduled for April of next year, with a final decision expected by August 2025.

Google plans to appeal the earlier ruling and has criticized the proposals as harmful to consumers and tech innovation.