The United States Department of Justice argued Wednesday that Google should divest its Chrome browser as part of a remedy to break up the company’s illegal monopoly in online search, according to a U.S District Court of the District of Columbia filing. Google would not be allowed to re-enter the search market for five years if the DOJ’s proposed remedy is approved.
Ultimately, it will be up to U.S. District of Columbia District Court Judge Amit Mehta to decide what Google’s final punishment will be, a decision that could fundamentally change one of the world’s largest businesses and alter the structure of the internet as we know it. That phase of the trial is expected to kick off sometime in 2025.
Judge Mehta ruled in August that Google was an illegal monopoly for abusing its power over the search business. The judge also took issue with Google’s control of various gateways to the internet, and the company’s payments to third parties in order to retain its status as a default search engine.
DOJ’s latest filing suggested that Google’s ownership of Android and Chrome, which are key distribution channels for its search business, pose “a significant challenge” to apply remedies for making the search market competitive.
The Justice Department proposed other remedies to address the search giant’s monopoly, including that Google spin off its Android mobile operating system. The filing noted that Google and other partners might be against that spin-off and suggested strict remedies, including not using Android to disadvantage its search competitors. The DOJ hinted that if Google fails to put limitations on Android, it should be forced to sell it off.
Prosecutors also argued the company should be prohibited from entering into exclusionary third-party contracts with browser or phone companies, such as Google’s contract to be the default search engine on all Apple products.
The Wednesday filing confirms earlier reports that prosecutors were considering pushing Google to spin off Chrome, which controls about 61% of the browser market in the U.S., according to web traffic service StatCounter.
Google did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
