The Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly taking steps to compel Google to spin off its Chrome browser business.
This information comes from Bloomberg, which also reports that the DOJ plans to recommend to a federal judge that Google face antitrust restrictions targeting its AI operations and its Android mobile operating system.
The DOJ brought these actions as a result of its historic, multiyear, antitrust case against Google. The case was to prove that there is a monopoly for the tech giant in the U.S. web search market. The DOJ won a major victory in August when federal judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google had violated antitrust laws in both the online search and search text ads markets.
Why Is Chrome Being Targeted?
Chrome is seen as a key access point for visitors to Google Search, the Justice Department says. However, it’s a default browser on millions of systems and deeply into Google’s ecosystem, picking up Google Search as the go-to thing for tens of millions.
(web traffic analysis firm StatCounter currently shows Chrome holds about 61 percent of the browser market in the U.S.). It enables Google to keep users in its monopoly over search by collecting all that data and using it to improve its advertising and AI prowess.
The DOJ hopes that by spinning off Chrome, the cycle can be broken and the playing field leveled for competitors in the browser and search markets.
Conclusion
The Justice Department is making more of an effort to end Big Tech’s monopolistic practices, as seen in the effort to spin off Google’s Chrome browser. Regulators are targeting Chrome, as well as AI and Android, to dismantle Google’s tools for becoming the digital ecosystem.
If successful, the said move could bring to bear in enabling the browser market to compete adequately and offer a wider variety to the users. It also points to a change in how governments around the world can start pursuing these market players for accountability and fairness in competition.
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