DOJ demands Google sells Chrome and possibly Android
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The news: The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has asked a federal judge to force Google to sell its Chrome browser and potentially its Android operating system to restore competition in online search, following a ruling that the company illegally maintained a monopoly.
The context: Chrome and Android, the world’s most widely used web browser and mobile operating systems, are central to Google’s ecosystem and a key foundation of its advertising dominance.
The bold initial remedy proposal, filed late Wednesday, is the most aggressive antitrust action since the government’s failed attempt to split Microsoft two decades ago, underscoring the growing push to rein in Big Tech’s power.
It seeks to break the feedback loop that entrenches Google’s control over user data, distribution channels and search revenue.
The proposals are wide-ranging and include ending the exclusive multibillion-dollar agreements Google has with device vendors like Apple to be the default search engine, requiring it to share search results and data with competitors and restricting its use of content for AI training.
In addition to proposing Chrome's sale within six months, the government urges US District Judge Amit Mehta to require Google to either divest Android, its mobile operating system, or stop mandating its services on Android-powered devices. If these conditions were violated or failed to restore competition, the government should be able to later compel the sale of Android.
Google criticised the measures as extreme, arguing they would harm consumers and innovation. The judge has set a two-week hearing in April on the possible remedies, with a ruling expected by August.
The numbers: Chrome accounts for 61% of the US browser market, while Android powers 71% of global smartphones, according to StatCounter. Evidence presented at the trial revealed Google paid USD26.3 billion for default search deals in 2021, with about USD20 billion of that going to Apple.
What they said: The executive summary of the DOJ’s proposed final judgment says: “Restoring competition to the markets for general search and search text advertising as they exist today will require reactivating the competitive process that Google has long stifled: The remedy must enable and encourage the development of an unfettered search ecosystem that induces entry, competition, and innovation as rivals vie to win the business of consumers and advertisers. To reach this goal, the remedy must address each of the ingredients necessary to create opportunities for competition to emerge.”
“Only a comprehensive set of remedies can thaw the ecosystem and finally reverse years of anticompetitive effects. A successful remedy requires that Google: stop third-party payments that exclude rivals by advantaging Google and discouraging procompetitive partnerships that would offer entrants access to efficient and effective distribution; disclose data sufficient to level the scale-based playing field it has illegally slanted, including, at the outset, licensing syndicated search results that provide potential competitors a chance to offer greater innovation and more effective competition; and reduce Google’s ability to control incentives across the broader ecosystem via ownership and control of products and data complementary to search.
“Google’s ownership and control of Chrome and Android—key methods for the distribution of search engines to consumers—poses a significant challenge to effectuate a remedy that aims to ‘unfetter [these] market[s] from anticompetitive conduct’ and ‘ensure that there remain no practices likely to result in monopolization in the future.’”
In a blog post, Google’s global affairs president and chief legal officer said: “The US Department of Justice tonight filed a staggering proposal that seeks dramatic changes to Google services.
“DOJ had a chance to propose remedies related to the issue in this case: search distribution agreements with Apple, Mozilla, smartphone OEMs, and wireless carriers.
“Instead, DOJ chose to push a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America’s global technology leadership. DOJ’s wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court’s decision. It would break a range of Google products — even beyond Search — that people love and find helpful in their everyday lives.”
