Google must sell Chrome to end search monopoly, US prosecutors argue

The Department of Justice said Google had ‘deprived rivals’ of opportunities to expand their search engine market share.

Alphabet’s Google should be forced to sell its Chrome browser and share data with competitors, prosecutors in the United States have argued, as part of a list of proposals intended to end the tech giant’s monopoly on searching the internet.

In a court filing on Wednesday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that Google, which controls about 90 percent of the online search market, should not be allowed to re-enter the browser market for five years and should sell its Android mobile operating system if other efforts to restore competition fail.

The DOJ also wants US District Judge Amit Mehta to put an end to Google’s multibillion-dollar agreements with device makers that make its search engine the default on tablets and smartphones.

“Google’s unlawful behavior has deprived rivals not only of critical distribution channels but also distribution partners who could otherwise enable entry into these markets by competitors in new and innovative ways,” prosecutors said.

The changes, if approved by Mehta, would effectively subject Google to a decade of regulation and oversight by the Washington federal court, which ruled in August the company had violated antitrust laws.

The DOJ sued Google in 2020 as part of wider efforts by antitrust authorities to take on Big Tech – including Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, Amazon and Apple – and strengthen competition.

In August, Mehta ruled that Google had spent billions of dollars to create an illegal monopoly for its search engine, exploiting its dominance to squash competition and stifle innovation.

“The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta wrote in his 277-page ruling.

Google argues that its popularity stems from consumers’ desire to use the search engine, which has become synonymous with searching online.

It has also insisted that the proposals would harm US consumers and businesses, as well as undermine American competitiveness in AI.

Google will have a chance to present its own proposals to improve competition in December.

A trial to rule on the DOJ’s proposals is scheduled for April, notwithstanding any changes to the case enacted by President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming antitrust head at the DOJ.