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The Justice Department will ask a judge to force Google to sell Chrome

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The US Department of Justice will ask a judge to force Alphabet (Google's owner) to sell its Chrome web browser, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the plans. This is a response to the federal court's judgment and the accusation that the giant harms consumers by exploiting and maintaining its monopoly position.

“Having to sell Chrome would harm consumers and businesses,” Google said.

“The Department of Justice will also ask the judge who ruled in August that Google illegally monopolized the search market to order measures related to artificial intelligence and the Android smartphone operating system,” it says.

This is the result of a ruling by a federal court in Washington, which found Google guilty of illegally using and maintaining a monopoly position in the search engine and online advertising market, ruling, among other things, that it harms consumers and stifles innovation.

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However, the court has not yet decided on the penalty and remedy. In an October document outlining initial proposals, authorities said it was considering breaking up Google.

Google's objection

As reported by the BBC, Google has made it clear that it opposes the proposal. “The Department of Justice continues to pursue a radical agenda that goes well beyond the legal issues in this case,” Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's chief executive, said in a statement, quoted by the BBC.

In addition, as reported by the BBC, Google will also be asked to introduce new measures regarding artificial intelligence, the Android operating system and data use.

“If the government took risks like this, it would harm consumers, developers and America's technology leadership at the very moment it's needed most,” Mulholland said.

“Google has previously denied that it has a monopoly on web searches,” writes the BBC. In response to the court's ruling, the giant stated that “separating” parts of its operations, such as Chrome or Android, “would result in their disintegration.”

“This split would change their business models, increase the cost of devices and weaken the position of Android and Google Play in their intense competition with iPhone and Apple's App Store,” the company said.

Google's dominant position

The move would be one of the Biden administration's most aggressive attempts to rein in Big Tech's alleged monopolies.

Ultimately, however, re-election may have the greatest impact on the whole matter Donald Trump for the office of president. Two months before the election, Trump claimed he would accuse Google of what he considered bias against him. But a month later, Trump questioned whether splitting the company was a good idea.

Google controls how people browse the Internet and what ads they see, in part through its Chrome browser, which typically uses Google's search engine, collects information relevant to Google's advertising business, and is estimated to have about two-thirds of the global market share browsers.

Because Chrome's market share is so high, it is an important source of revenue for Google. At the same time, when users sign in to Chrome with a Google account, Google may offer more targeted search ads. Google maintains that its search engine has gained users due to its quality, adding that it faces stiff competition.

The government has the ability to decide whether selling Chrome will be necessary at a later date if some other aspects of the solution create a more competitive market, the Bloomberg report said.

Main photo source: Shutterstock



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