DOJ asks judge to force Google to sell Chrome in partial breakup proposal
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A Google Chrome logo is displayed on a smartphone with a Google Logo in the background. Photo illustration: Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The Department of Justice is pushing for Google to sell its Chrome web browser after a landmark ruling found the tech giant had illegally abused its search monopoly.
Why it matters: The proposal for a partial breakup of Google and an overhaul of the running of its Android mobile operating system, among other changes, would mark the biggest antitrust action in the U.S. in decades if it's approved.
What we're watching: Google has said it will appeal the federal judge's August ruling that found the company had violated federal antitrust rules to maintain a monopoly in the online search market and the case will not be finalized before President-elect Trump takes office.
- The case could be the first big test of tech antitrust policy under Trump 2.0, per Axios' Dan Primack.
Driving the news: "Google must promptly and fully divest Chrome, to a buyer approved by the Plaintiffs in their sole discretion, subject to terms that the Court and Plaintiffs approve," per the DOJ's proposed final judgment.
- Attorneys for the DOJ suggested in the filing to U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta that Google could divest from Android phones, but noted there may be some objections to this.
- An alternative could be "behavioral remedies that would blunt Google's ability to use its control of the Android ecosystem to favor its general search services and search text ad monopolies as well as limit Google's ability to discriminate in favor of its own search and ads businesses," the DOJ suggested.
- The Justice Department is also urging Mehta to rule that Google should stop third-party payments that it says exclude rivals and prevent the company from enabling preferential access to its other platforms, such as YouTube or its generative AI services like Gemini.
- "The playing field is not level because of Google's conduct, and Google's quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired," the attorneys said.
The other side: Kent Walker, Google's chief legal officer, said the DOJ "chose to push a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America's global technology leadership" in a proposal that "goes miles beyond" the court ruling.
- Walker said it would "hobble people's ability to access Google Search" and claimed the proposed changes would require "disclosure to unknown foreign and domestic companies of not just Google's innovations and results, but even more troublingly, Americans' personal search queries."
Context: The case stems from a lawsuit that the Justice Department first filed against Google during the previous Trump administration in 2020, which alleged the company had illegal dominance in online search — basing their case mostly on the contracts between Google and Apple's Safari and Mozilla's Firefox, worth billions.
What's next: A second DOJ lawsuit against Google that was filed in 2023 accuses the firm of violating antitrust laws in its ad-tech business.
- Closing arguments in that case are expected to be held in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Monday.
Between the lines: While Trump threatened to sue Google during the 2024 presidential campaign and attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz has called for breaking up firms, Primack notes that the Republican leader ran on a deregulatory agenda that garnered donations from Silicon Valley investors.
Go deeper: The legal struggle for Google's browser
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
