this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2025

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Justice Department asks judge to order Google the "immediate" sale of Chrome (www.techspot.com)

submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by cm0002@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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The U.S. Department of Justice is ramping up its case against Google's alleged monopoly, suggesting the government could eventually force the company to sell its widely-used Chrome browser. The move is part of the DoJ's push to challenge Google's hold over the digital advertising and search engine markets.

The Justice Department's latest legal action accuses Google of engaging in anticompetitive behavior by unfairly using its dominance in search and advertising to prop up its other services, most notably Chrome. The government argues that Google's browser and vast data ecosystem have given the company an outsized advantage over competitors, stifling innovation and harming consumers. By bundling Chrome with its Android operating system, Google has built an extensive network that could limit consumer choice and make it difficult for smaller firms to compete.

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[–] fuzzywombat@lemmy.world 38 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (5 children)

Which tech company would buy Chrome from Google? I just can't think of a single tech company that could be an improvement over Google owning Chrome.

Amazon
Apple
Meta
Microsoft
Oracle

What about media companies? I don't see consumers benefiting from this.

Comcast
Disney
Netflix
Viacom

What about telecom? I still don't see consumers benefiting from this.

AT&T
T-Mobile
Verizon

What about foreign companies? Will they be even allowed to buy Chrome? I'm not sure.

LG
Philips
Samsung
Sony

The more I think about it, this won't end well.

[–] rhadamanth_nemes@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago

Sell it to IBM so they can end all support lol

[–] jackyard@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Chromium is already there and companies like Microsoft have their own forks so... Yeah I think there's no point of buying Chrome.

[–] rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

It's the most popular web browser in the world. Direct access to the browser windows and browsing data of the majority of Internet users would be the point.

[–] rippersnapper@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago

Sell it to Canonical

[–] madis@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Of those companies, Apple seems like the best option due to their business goals (privacy). Though I am not fully sure why they'd want to as they already have a browser with a relative market share dominance and ecosystem.

Realistically, it would make sense to see Microsoft try again, it would instantly get 70% of the world to use "Edge", so their goals are met. Chrome already has the modern web standards, so it might just mean slower progression of the web in the future.

[–] Smokeless7048@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Apples business isn't privacy. Apples business is selling privacy.

[–] madis@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago

I don't disagree, it's more of a matter of least evil.

[–] gamer@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago

Apple seems like the best option due to their business goals (privacy).

Lol. Lmao, even.

Sorry for the flippant comment, but it's so incredibly wrong that I need to highlight the ridiculousness. TBF to you, it's a common misconception due to Apple marketing's lies, and our regulatory agencies unable/unwilling to do anything about companies that lie like Apple does.

Microsoft would be even worse.

The best outcome IMO is to kill Chrome, Edge, AND Safari, and force users to scatter and find an alternative on their own. There will need to be some way to prevent all big tech from trying to compete here too (Facebook, Amazon, etc), as those are incentivized to monopolize exactly like Google did, and we shouldn't have to wait another 2 decades for the government to do something about it.

There will be some growing pains as people initially end up on shitty/scammy browsers, but eventually the market will do its thing and browser devs will compete for marketshare.

[–] rothaine@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago

Is Microsoft even eligible? Wasn't their anti-trust suit over IE basically about this same thing?

[–] CCMan1701A@startrek.website 3 points 2 days ago

Stellantis

[–] flop_leash_973@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

It would be better to not allow Google to have a major stake in the control of the Chromium project itself. Same for Android, force them to spin AOSP off into a nonprofit or sell it to EFF or something and forbid them from having a huge stake in it.

Let them use it for their own products, but remove their financial influence over the underlying software.

[–] rippersnapper@lemm.ee 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Spinning off AOSP into something like Mozilla would massively boost its appeal. I myself left android cuz of privacy issues (no I can’t use GrapheneOS, I need access to my banking apps).

[–] LoveSausage@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Use shit banking apps on GOS from 6 of them from 3 countries , no issus what so ever. Apple has privacy issues as well. You can also use other roms with microG and aurorastore

[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 20 points 2 days ago

or pay a generous fee of %0.00001 of your yearly earnings to make it go away

[–] boughtmysoul@lemmy.world 27 points 2 days ago

A direct “donation” to Trump would instantly fix this.

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 23 points 2 days ago

I'd cheer if I thought this was anything except a blackmail play when a Trump administration is now involved. They'll buy him off and it'll all be back to status quo by fall.

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 224 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I guess Google didn’t bribe hard enough

[–] DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org 63 points 4 days ago (1 children)

There are still Trump critics on YouTube.

[–] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

You know, I always assumed they were conservative biased because for me personally they always pushed the most disgusting far right garbage in reccomended and adverts for over a decade, but I looked it up and I guess Google does have an anti-conservative bias in their news listings.

TIL.

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 33 points 3 days ago

It's not done yet. I highly doubt it ever will be either.

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 153 points 4 days ago (4 children)

Justice Department is 100% lobbing this over to JD Vance's buddy Peter Thiel who's going to enshittify it even further and turn it with its massive install base into a tool for techno-fascism.

[–] biofaust@lemmy.world 59 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (6 children)

I must say that, as a European using a Firefox fork for my daily browsing while waiting for Ladybird, I don't see that outcome as completely negative: Google, somehow, in America has kept a completely unjustified good vibes feeling surrounding itself, while Thiel is much more evil in the public eye.

If Chrome is associated with him in anyway it can become a more lucid image of itself.

[–] aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 2 days ago

Ladybird can't come fast enough.

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 38 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I really don't think this is true. It might push some politically engaged users to Firefox, but unlike Musk, most people don't know who Thiel is, and as long as he keeps it that way, nobody will care.

[–] biofaust@lemmy.world 22 points 3 days ago (3 children)

That's when we come onto the scene.

I am continuously "translating" news and opinions from here on LinkedIn. Already got banned from a professional Slack that contains most people in my industry for saying in a private conversation that I like watermelon.

Not gonna stop. People are not politically inclined because we kept our knowledge to ourselves for too long.

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[–] Geodad@lemm.ee 23 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Google should do the power play and completely open source the browser.

[–] madis@lemm.ee 7 points 2 days ago

But Chrome is already just Chromium with some binary blobs. Chromium itself even has sync and Google services at this point.

Besides, what would that change in regards to who develops it?

[–] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 37 points 3 days ago (2 children)

the doj doesn't care about monopolies; the doj just wants to punish people who don't push fascist agendas.

[–] RightEdofer@lemmy.ca 32 points 3 days ago (6 children)

Google’s ad network and YouTube are pushing the agenda more than pretty much everyone.

[–] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

I thought so too because I only get horrific conservative nonsense from their platforms but turns out they've been vearing left lately, delisting conservative news and banning far right advertisers.

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[–] gamer@lemm.ee 2 points 2 days ago

Not true. This lawsuit has been in the works for a long time. IIRC the investigation started towards the end up the first Trump admin, was completed, brought to trial, and won by the Biden admin, and now is being completed under Trump again.

Don't believe the MAGA lies about government agencies being partisan hacks. They're generally staffed by people who believe in the mission and put that ahead of politics. Under Trump, a lot of good people are leaving, but the ones playing the loyalty game can stay and keep working.

[–] InFerNo@lemmy.ml 28 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Microsoft Chrome

Meta Chrome

Amazon Chrome

Apple Chrome

Sell to who though

[–] brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com 36 points 3 days ago (2 children)

X Chrome

Ughhhhhhh

[–] josefo@leminal.space 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I really want to downvote you just for the idea. Wow

[–] Lemminary@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

Can I kick them? I want to kick them.

[–] Mbourgon@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

That…makes a horrible amount of sense.

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[–] WormFood@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

the browser itself doesn't matter. Google have had 10 years to do what they want with the specs for html, CSS and JavaScript, to define everything from browser extension APIs to the http protocol itself. they have won. not only have they spent a decade architecting the web in a way that mostly benefits them, they have made those specifications so bloated and complicated that nobody can develop a competitor from scratch. it took years to undo the damage wrought by ie6's stagnation but this is different. this shit can't be undone. it's fucked forever

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 75 points 4 days ago (5 children)

Why, what, is there something different about the Google guy?

[–] josefo@leminal.space 9 points 2 days ago

I'll go and risk "shade of skin". He is also smiling an looks a little less as a Bond villain, but I go with the shading.

[–] einlander@lemmy.world 27 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (4 children)

Look at all their lips. See how they look like they are ready to kiss or suck something? Now look at Pichai. Just smiling instead of getting ready to receive a load. He bent the knee, but not far enough.

[–] AtariDump@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago

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[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 32 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Solution: Create an open source foundation, cram the board with Google employees

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[–] barkingspiders@infosec.pub 27 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I think this is good news which seems hard to believe right now. I'm sure someone will find a way to make this terrible but on it's face we are watching an important anti-trust ruling take place. Google's monopoly on the browser is dangerous and unhealthy. Taking it away from them is absolutely the right thing to do. Who inherits the power over the single browser used by most of the world remains to be seen though.

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