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submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by cm0002@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

The U.S. Department of Justice is ramping up its case against Google's alleged monopoly, suggesting the government could eventually force the company to sell its widely-used Chrome browser. The move is part of the DoJ's push to challenge Google's hold over the digital advertising and search engine markets.

The Justice Department's latest legal action accuses Google of engaging in anticompetitive behavior by unfairly using its dominance in search and advertising to prop up its other services, most notably Chrome. The government argues that Google's browser and vast data ecosystem have given the company an outsized advantage over competitors, stifling innovation and harming consumers. By bundling Chrome with its Android operating system, Google has built an extensive network that could limit consumer choice and make it difficult for smaller firms to compete.

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[-] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 4 months ago

the doj doesn't care about monopolies; the doj just wants to punish people who don't push fascist agendas.

[-] RightEdofer@lemmy.ca 6 points 4 months ago

Google’s ad network and YouTube are pushing the agenda more than pretty much everyone.

[-] Xanza@lemm.ee 0 points 4 months ago

They're an open platform. Anyone can buy ad time on their platforms. It has nothing to do with Google and everything to do with people buying ad time.

If you're going to be pissed, then be pissed. Just be right.

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[-] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 12 points 4 months ago

I guess Google didn’t bribe hard enough

[-] DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 4 months ago

There are still Trump critics on YouTube.

[-] Ulrich@feddit.org 3 points 4 months ago

It's not done yet. I highly doubt it ever will be either.

[-] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 10 points 4 months ago

Justice Department is 100% lobbing this over to JD Vance's buddy Peter Thiel who's going to enshittify it even further and turn it with its massive install base into a tool for techno-fascism.

[-] biofaust@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I must say that, as a European using a Firefox fork for my daily browsing while waiting for Ladybird, I don't see that outcome as completely negative: Google, somehow, in America has kept a completely unjustified good vibes feeling surrounding itself, while Thiel is much more evil in the public eye.

If Chrome is associated with him in anyway it can become a more lucid image of itself.

[-] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

I really don't think this is true. It might push some politically engaged users to Firefox, but unlike Musk, most people don't know who Thiel is, and as long as he keeps it that way, nobody will care.

[-] biofaust@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

That's when we come onto the scene.

I am continuously "translating" news and opinions from here on LinkedIn. Already got banned from a professional Slack that contains most people in my industry for saying in a private conversation that I like watermelon.

Not gonna stop. People are not politically inclined because we kept our knowledge to ourselves for too long.

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[-] green@feddit.nl 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Acceleration-ism does not work.

If the USA has not taught you this, after this reckless takeover, nothing will save you.

The more likely outcome is for Chrome to become a North Korea RedStar equivalent, where you cannot freely access the internet without Chrome. And if you visit a resource with wrongspeak, the resource will have all its finances taken away (see the legislation surrounding section 230); with you being sent to El Salvador.

[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 0 points 4 months ago

Please, do it! That's going to eviscerate Chrome's userbase and push these Chromium browsers to fork so fast it'll make his head spin.

[-] pivot_root@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

You're putting way too much faith in the typical consumer. Enshittifying Chrome even more would piss its users off, but inertia and its market dominance would keep most of them continuing to use it while complaining about how bad it is.

Remember: It took 8 years for Chrome to drag Internet Explorer to the point where less than 10% of people actually used it. And that's with Firefox already being a competitor to it for years.

[-] InFerNo@lemmy.ml 8 points 4 months ago

Microsoft Chrome

Meta Chrome

Amazon Chrome

Apple Chrome

Sell to who though

[-] brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 4 months ago

X Chrome

Ughhhhhhh

[-] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 months ago

ByteDance shell company Chrome.

[-] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

Why, what, is there something different about the Google guy?

[-] einlander@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Look at all their lips. See how they look like they are ready to kiss or suck something? Now look at Pichai. Just smiling instead of getting ready to receive a load. He bent the knee, but not far enough.

[-] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

Yeah, that's probably the difference

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[-] fuzzywombat@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Which tech company would buy Chrome from Google? I just can't think of a single tech company that could be an improvement over Google owning Chrome.

  • Amazon

  • Apple

  • Meta

  • Microsoft

  • Oracle

What about media companies? I don't see consumers benefiting from this.

  • Comcast

  • Disney

  • Netflix

  • Viacom

What about telecom? I still don't see consumers benefiting from this.

  • AT&T

  • T-Mobile

  • Verizon

What about foreign companies? Will they be even allowed to buy Chrome? I'm not sure.

  • LG

  • Philips

  • Samsung

  • Sony

The more I think about it, this won't end well.

[-] rippersnapper@lemm.ee 3 points 4 months ago

Sell it to Canonical

[-] rhadamanth_nemes@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Sell it to IBM so they can end all support lol

[-] jackyard@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

Chromium is already there and companies like Microsoft have their own forks so... Yeah I think there's no point of buying Chrome.

[-] rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

It's the most popular web browser in the world. Direct access to the browser windows and browsing data of the majority of Internet users would be the point.

[-] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Solution: Create an open source foundation, cram the board with Google employees

[-] barkingspiders@infosec.pub 2 points 4 months ago

I think this is good news which seems hard to believe right now. I'm sure someone will find a way to make this terrible but on it's face we are watching an important anti-trust ruling take place. Google's monopoly on the browser is dangerous and unhealthy. Taking it away from them is absolutely the right thing to do. Who inherits the power over the single browser used by most of the world remains to be seen though.

[-] kibiz0r@midwest.social 1 points 4 months ago

Who inherits the power over the single browser used by most of the world remains to be seen though.

Probably Musk or Thiel.

[-] amorpheus@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago
[-] flop_leash_973@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

It would be better to not allow Google to have a major stake in the control of the Chromium project itself. Same for Android, force them to spin AOSP off into a nonprofit or sell it to EFF or something and forbid them from having a huge stake in it.

Let them use it for their own products, but remove their financial influence over the underlying software.

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[-] boughtmysoul@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

A direct “donation” to Trump would instantly fix this.

[-] WormFood@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

the browser itself doesn't matter. Google have had 10 years to do what they want with the specs for html, CSS and JavaScript, to define everything from browser extension APIs to the http protocol itself. they have won. not only have they spent a decade architecting the web in a way that mostly benefits them, they have made those specifications so bloated and complicated that nobody can develop a competitor from scratch. it took years to undo the damage wrought by ie6's stagnation but this is different. this shit can't be undone. it's fucked forever

[-] spark947@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago

Just make them put support for manifest v2 back.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 0 points 4 months ago

I somehow don't believe this is going to happen. But if it does, sell it to Mozilla?

[-] Ledericas@lemm.ee 0 points 4 months ago

mozilla doesnt have money, they are so desperate now, they are lowkey selling some data.

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this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2025
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