Google could be forced to sell off Chrome by U.S. DOJ

The U.S. Justice Department reportedly is preparing to ask a judge to force Alphabet Inc.’s Google to sell its popular Chrome Internet browser as part of an antitrust case that may be the first landmark in the treatment of Big Tech companies. Bloomberg News said the move is part of the continuing investigation in the United States Department of Justice into how Google has dominated digital advertising and related anti-competitive practices.

Chrome represents a crucial component within Google’s ecosystem and holds an enormous percentage of the global browser market, in which it operates and collects data to integrate with its advertising services. The DOJ push for divestiture, thus, would represent perhaps one of the greatest shifts in the tech industry: opening up space in the browser market and, in so doing, disrupting its hold on advertising.

This proposed move forms part of a more all-inclusive trend in which global regulators scrutinize Big Tech companies for some kind of monopolistic behavior and dominance in a key market. If successful, the move could lead to one of the biggest antitrust actions ever, with quite far-reaching implications for the tech industry.

It depends on how the judiciary decides and if Google comes to some kind of settlement with DOJ. Industry analysts are taking keen observations at this move and how it would shape the future of the digital economy.