Google will have new challenges ahead, when it comes to Chrome and even Android. The US DOJ wants to limit its monopoly and create a more open market. In addition to having to sell Chrome, Google may have to go further and be banned from creating a new browser after selling Chrome.
Earlier this week, the DOJ's (US Department of Justice) plans to get Google to sell its Chrome browser were reviewed. Now that the department's demands have been made public, it turns out that they are even more negative for the company than previously thought.
The DOJ not only wants Google and Chrome to be separated, but it also wants to ban the company from releasing another browser for at least five years. This undoubtedly allows consumers to get used to Chrome's new management rather than abandoning to Chrome 2.0 or something similar right away.
Furthermore, the DOJ also wants to prevent Google from paying third parties to make its search engine the default option in its browsers. All of this was presented to break Google's monopoly on the search industry. Google, naturally, classified the measures as extreme and radical and also warned that this would put the privacy of US citizens at risk.
The DOJ's original proposal was much more severe: require it to sell its Android operating system. Fortunately for Google, the DOJ agreed that such a proposal was going too far and instead decided to sell Chrome. Other requirements also include restrictions that would force Google to dissociate Android from the company's own services, including Search and the Play Store.
Judge Amit Mehta, who has previously ruled against Google's search monopoly, will preside over the case. The hearing is scheduled for April next year and Google will undoubtedly try to lessen the severity of the DOJ's demands.
Finally, the DOJ also demanded that Google be more transparent with advertisers using its platform. These advertisers should also have the option to opt-out of having their data used to train AI models.
Source: pplware.sapo.pt
