The US Department of Justice is demanding Google to sell its Chrome browser as part of an antitrust lawsuit. This is reported by Bloomberg.
Let's remind that in August of this year, the US court recognized the company as a monopoly. Since then, antitrust regulators decide what action to take to eliminate a company's anticompetitive practices.
The ministry plans to go to court to force Google to sell its most popular web browser, Chrome's integration with Google Search and other Google products as one of the factors limiting competition in search.
Regulators also want Google to separate its Android operating system from other products, such as Google Search and the Google Play Store, that are usually installed by default on Android devices, which Google was initially expected to sell Android, but that requirement was later removed.
The U.S. Department of Justice is proposing to require Google to license the data and allow search results to be freely aggregated on Google Search, which would allow competitors and AI startups to improve their algorithms and create search indexes. It could also force Google to share more data with advertisers back, giving them more control.
Google will no longer be able to sign exclusive deals like the one with Apple in 2022. Google made Safari the default search engine for $20 billion.
Google is said to be challenging the antitrust ruling, and the judge presiding over the case plans to hold a two-week hearing in April 2025 to discuss what changes the company plans to make. The final decision is expected in August 2025.
