Google under pressure from US officials to sell Chrome browser

Justice department to recommend to judge in illegal monopoly case that Alphabet should offload what is a significant revenue driver for Google

Google could be ordered to sell its Chrome internet browser after a federal judge found the company has an “illegal monopoly” over search.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) plans to ask the judge to force Alphabet’s Google to sell its Chrome internet browser, Bloomberg reported on Monday night.

If the judge accepts the recommendation, it would be one of the most aggressive attacks on a big technology company by the US government.

Judge Amit P Mehta ruled in August that Google, which handles about 90 per cent of the world’s internet searches, exploited its market-leading position to exclude competitors. Mehta has scheduled a trial on remedy proposals for April.

Google’s Chrome browser helps the company control how people view the internet and what ads they see. The browser typically uses Google search and gathers information to help Google offer more targeted advertising.

The browser is a significant revenue driver for Google. Despite an initial dip on the report that it could be asked to sell Chrome, Alphabet’s shares bounced back on Tuesday and closed up $2.78, or 1.6 per cent, at $179.58 in New York.

Anti-trust officials will also recommend that Google give websites more options to prevent their content from being used by Google’s artificial intelligence products, Bloomberg reported. Google displays artificial intelligence-based answers at the top of its search pages, labelled “AI Overviews.” Meanwhile, Google could be required to license the results and data from its search engine.

The DoJ declined to comment.

Lee-Anne Mulholland, vice-president of Google Regulatory Affairs, said that the DoJ was pushing a “radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case,” and would harm consumers.

The company plans to appeal once Mehta makes a final ruling, which he is likely to do by August 2025.

Alternative potential remedies could include ending exclusive agreements where Google pays billions of dollars annually to Apple and other companies to remain the default search engine on tablets and smartphones. Another option is that the judge could consider asking Google to divest other parts of its business, such as its Android operating system.