Bad news for Google. The trial for monopolistic practices in which the North American giant has been immersed for several months could have reached its maximum point of tension. Justice would have received the request to force Google to sell its browser, Google Chrome, to balance the market. Not an easy decision that would also lead to many other measures.
The volume of business and the market position that big tech are achieving is being a problem for governments around the world. A few days ago, we echoed the historic sanction of the European Commission towards Meta, worth several hundred million. Now, it’s Google’s turn. Although this time the game is played at home.
As Bloomberg announced just a few minutes ago, antitrust officials from the Department of Justice would have asked Judge Amit Mehta to make a drastic decision: force Google to sell its browser, Google Chrome, to a third party. But what are the reasons?
Google would be monopolizing the search market
The objective pursued with this measure follows the same line as most of the sentences we have witnessed in recent months in other parts of the world: to increase the competitiveness of companies and avoid the monopolistic practices that were taking place in a large number of territories by large technology companies.
The previously mentioned department considers that Google is illegally monopolizing Internet searches. The explanation is simple: Google Chrome is one of the most common channels to perform any search on Google. The advertising that Google Chrome carries out to encourage the use of the rest of the American company’s products discourages the rest of the companies from competing in this sector.
In the event that the Judge accepts the proposals that are being launched by the officials already mentioned, we would find ourselves facing an unprecedented paradigm shift. Even more so if we take into account that one of Google’s main sources of income has its origins in advertising.
The problem is not just Google Chrome
Google has a very important problem with Google Chrome, but it is not the only one, since Android is also in serious trouble. Although the lawyers do not request its sale, as is the case with Chrome, they do demand that it be separated from the rest of Google services. That is, the operating system is not linked to Google’s own search engine and Google Play, as it is currently.
If this is carried out, users would have complete freedom to install Google’s own services, or any other manufacturer, when purchasing a mobile phone with Android. In this way, many other developers would be encouraged to dedicate a greater amount of resources to shaping alternative application stores, search engines or browsers, for example.
At the moment, it is unknown whether the sale request will be taken into account or not, so we will have to pay attention to new information. What is clear is that big tech companies are not going to have it so easy to continue growing at the same pace they have done until regulators have decided to take action on the matter.
