Google being forced to sell off Chrome would be a major win for everybody

While you might be familiar with Microsoft’s Bing search engine, or you remember the days of Ask Jeeves fondly, there’s no question that Google reigns supreme over the competition. For example, Google paid Apple $20 billion in 2022 to make Google the default search engine on Safari, a hefty sum that has gone a long way to making Google the dominant search engine. While you can pick your own search engine, it’s clear a large portion of the population sticks with the default choice, and in this case, it’s Google.

This has helped Google build up a search engine monopoly, even though it’s far from the only available search engine. With the rise of AI search results, the waters have been effectively muddied, and finding the correct information has become more difficult. While it would’ve been nice not to get to this point, help may be on the way. According to Bloomberg, the United States Department of Justice could force Alphabet, Google’s parent company, to sell off the popular Chrome browser. In August, a judge ruled Google illegally monopolized search engine results, and this could be a clear way forward to fix the issue. Ultimately, this would end up being a major win for anyone who isn’t happy with the direction the search engine is going in.

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A big change on the horizon

Google used to be one of the most reliable tools on the internet, and even though it was part of a monopoly, it wasn’t something I worried about a lot since it worked just fine in my case. When it started to implement AI search results that didn’t always give accurate results, it began to impact my life negatively, and it was clear something had to be done. Being forced to sell off Chrome, the most popular web browser, has other effects.

As noted by Bloomberg, Google can see activity from signed-in users and use the data it gathers to target them in promotions. Being forced to sell Chrome would mean Google no longer has that info, and it would greatly weaken the company’s grip on the internet. While Google would remain as a search engine, a big chunk of the search on the platform comes through Chrome. The idea behind this proposed sale is to take away that access point to Google, and it could end up having a positive result.

It’s still far too early to tell if this sale will even go through, but it’s easy to envision a world where this is a net positive. Yes, it would mean another company gets access to your data through Chrome, but in the effort to break up a monopoly, it’s a necessary step to take. As a matter of fact, I can’t find much to be upset with here. The only issue I can see is what company will get its hands on Chrome in the event of a sale. There aren’t many logical choices to choose from, and it’s very much a matter of picking your poison. There’s also a very real possibility that nothing ever comes to fruition.

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You have to be patient

Don’t hold your breath for this to actually happen

As far as big tech monopolies like this are concerned, there’s often not a lot done to prevent them or break them up. Disney was able to merge with Fox without much of an issue. Although there were a lot of hangups with the Activision-Blizzard and Microsoft purchase, it eventually went through and subsequently led to layoffs at Activision, something many people predicted would happen. I’m trying to say that it’s nice to see the government stepping in and saying a company has gone too far, but the actions often tell another story.

For starters, forcing Alphabet to sell off its Chrome browser requires somebody else to be interested in the purchase. With an estimated $20 billion being the going rate, there are few companies equipped to take on such a burden, and even fewer who see the value in picking up a search engine. Amazon or Apple are obvious choices, but that’s an example of transferring a search engine over to another mega-corporation, and it’s essentially the same situation we’re in right now. If those companies, or a dark horse, aren’t interested, then this deal doesn’t have a chance of going anywhere.

Even if a sale doesn’t happen, Google still has to make changes. According to Bloomberg, Google will have to license the results and data from its search engine and give websites more options to prevent their content from being used by Google Gemini. At the very least, consumers will have more control over their data, and that’s not a bad thing, no matter how you slice it. The sale of Chrome is an unlikely path forward, but we’ll find out what’s in store for the tech giant sometime next year. A final ruling is expected in August 2025.

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You have to make the leap

Google / Microsoft / Pocket-lint

If you’re not happy with how Google is treating your data or you’re not a fan of the AI results, you can always switch to another service. Microsoft has been pushing Microsoft Edge and its Bing search engine for years, but it hasn’t really made much of a dent. The reality is Chrome is the most popular web browser by a landslide, and as a result, we see people use Google more than Bing, even if it’s not always the better option. To be fair, Bing is far from a bad service, and there are incentives in the form of Xbox gift cards to help sweeten the deal.

Through paying to make sure Chrome is the default web browser on devices contributed greatly to this, and people have proven to be increasingly resistant to change. Even though Twitter has been trending downward since Elon Musk’s purchase, people have been hesitant to leave the app in droves. Threads and Blue Sky are two alternatives, but neither of them has made a sizable dent yet. There’s still time for that to change, but it helps shed some light on why so many people are fed up with Google but continue to use the service despite alternatives being available.