Google may have to divest Chrome to bypass search engine monopoly verdict

Earlier this year, the United States District Court of Columbia ruled that Google holds an illegal monopoly in the search engine market. That ruling led the Department of Justice (DOJ) to draft several proposals to help amend Google’s illegal monopoly status.

The latest DOJ proposal includes divesting Google’s Chrome browser, which the DOJ sees as a “key access point for searching the web.” The U.S. government is also prepared to force Google to divest Android in a similar manner. The DOJ also wants to prohibit Google from offering payments to third parties that would secure Google Search as the default search engine on their devices or software platforms.

Other so-called remedies include banning Google from preferencing its search engine on its own apps and platforms and allowing rival search engine companies to access its search index at “marginal costs.”

As you might have guessed, Google is ready to appeal the DOJ proposals and confirmed its plans in a blog post, describing the DOJ’s proposals as “extreme” and with the “potential to hurt consumers and America’s global technological leadership”.

A second court hearing, which will include a two-week remedies trial, is planned for April 2025. The DOJ will also draft a revised version of its proposal by early March.

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