It is known that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) will require the court to force Alphabet - Google's parent company, to sell the Chrome browser in order to reduce its monopoly in the search market.
Accordingly, Google is taking control of how users access the internet and the type of advertising they access through the Chrome browser. Chrome not only regularly uses the default Google search engine but also collects important data for the advertising industry, contributing greatly to Google's revenue. Chrome currently accounts for about 2/3 of the global browser market share.
The DOJ also asked the court to take control measures related to artificial intelligence (AI) and Google's Android operating system. Previously, in August 2024, the court ruled that Google violated exclusive rights when dominating the search market.
Responding to the above move, Mr. Lee-Anne Mulholland - Vice President in charge of legal affairs of Google, criticized the DOJ's request as "extreme". He said this would harm consumers.
Google affirms that their search engine has won the trust of users thanks to its superior quality. At the same time, the company stressed that it also faces strong competition from Amazon and other platforms.
Judge Amit Mehta is scheduled to make a final ruling in August 2025. The trial on remedies was previously scheduled for April of that year.
The DOJ has proposed a series of remedies, from terminating exclusive deals, where Google pays billions of dollars a year to Apple and other companies to maintain the position of the default search engine, to requiring Google to sell businesses such as Chrome or the Android operating system.
If the court orders the sale of Chrome, it will certainly be a big blow to Google's revenue, because Chrome plays a huge role in collecting data to provide more accurate search ads.
However, the US government may still consider not requiring the sale of Chrome if other measures are sufficient to create a more competitive market.
Currently, users can still change the default search engine on the Chrome browser or choose other browsers and search engines. But the court's decision in this case could reshape the way users access and experience the internet in the future.
