DoJ Reportedly Pushing For Google To Divest Chrome To Dismantle Search Monopoly

The US Department of Justice is reportedly planning to ask a federal judge to force Google’s parent company, Alphabet, to sell off its Chrome internet browser, potentially marking one of the biggest tech industry crackdowns in the US in decades.

On August 5, US District Judge Amit Mehta, Washington, DC, ruled that Google violated antitrust law by spending billions of dollars to create an illegal monopoly as the world’s default search engine on smartphones, computers, and tablets. The ruling paved the way for antitrust enforcers to submit a 32-page document about potential remedies for the judge to consider. 

Now, Bloomberg reports, citing sources, that top DoJ antitrust officials plan to ask Juge Mehta to consider one of Google’s top remedies: selling off its Chrome browser unit. 

Here’s more from the report:

Antitrust officials, along with states that have joined the case, also plan to recommend Wednesday that federal judge Amit Mehta impose data licensing requirements, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential matter.

If Mehta accepts the proposals, they have the potential to reshape the online search market and the burgeoning AI industry.

…

The government has the option to decide whether a Chrome sale is necessary at a later date if some of the other aspects of the remedy create a more competitive market, the people added. 

Government attorneys met with dozens of companies over the past three months as they prepared the recommendation. States are still considering adding some proposals and some details could change, the people said.

Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, said the DoJ “continues to push a radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case.”

“The government putting its thumb on the scale in these ways would harm consumers, developers and American technological leadership at precisely the moment it is most needed,” Mulholland said. 

Selling off Chrome would severely impact Google’s ad unit, considering the browser maintains about 61% of the US market share, according to web traffic analytics service StatCounter. Google’s ad revenue in 2023 was $237.86 billion.

Judge Mehta has planned a two-week April hearing on the changes Google must make to remedy the illegal behavior. The final ruling could come as early as August 2025. Google does plan to file an appeal.