Reuters
Google said it would harm consumers and businesses if it was forced to sell Chrome, the world's most popular web browser.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) will propose the measure to a judge on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported.
Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google operated an online search monopoly in August and considered what remedies or sanctions to impose.
The DOJ has not commented on the report, but Google has made clear that this is a proposal it opposes.
“The DOJ continues to advance a radical agenda that goes well beyond the legal issues in this case,” Google Director Lee-Anne Mulholland said in a statement.
Google would also be asked to establish new metrics around its artificial intelligence, Android operating system and data usage.
“The government putting its thumb on the scale in this way would harm consumers, developers and American technology leadership at precisely the time when it is needed most,” Ms. Mulholland added.
Chrome is the most used browser in the world – with web traffic tracking system Similarweb putting its global market share at 64.61% in October.
Meanwhile, Google Search held nearly 90% of the global search engine market in October, according to Statcounter.
This is the default engine in Chrome as well as many smartphone browsers, including Safari on iPhone.
Judge Mehta said in his August ruling that the default search engine was “extremely valuable real estate” for Google.
“Even if a new entrant were positioned, from a quality point of view, to bid in the event of default at the expiration of an agreement, such a company could only be competitive if it was prepared to pay its partners billion dollars in revenue share,” he wrote.
The DOJ was expected to provide the court with its final relief proposals by Wednesday.
In an October filing documenting the initial proposals, he said he would consider seeking a split from Google.
Potential solutions “that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play (its app store) and Android to benefit Google Search and Google Search-related products” were among his considerations, he said. declared at the time.
“Separate”
Google has previously denied having a monopoly in online search.
In response to the DOJ's October filing, Google said that “splitting off” parts of its businesses like Chrome or Android would “break them up.”
“Divorcing them would change their business models, increase the cost of devices and weaken Android and Google Play in their strong competition with iPhone and Apple's App Store,” the company said.
He also said it would make it harder to keep Chrome secure.
Revenue from Google's search and advertising businesses rose 10% to $65.9 billion, according to the company's latest quarterly results.
Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said the company's AI search tools were now available to millions of users.
Investors closely watched Google's stock price on Tuesday, following reports of proposed corrective actions by the DOJ.
