Is Google Chrome going to be sold? Donald Trump is going to change the internet world!

The US Justice Department has insisted on its demand to sell Google's Chrome browser, making it clear that the Trump administration is also continuing the Biden administration's policy of cracking down on tech companies.

In a court filing on Friday, the Justice Department again requested that Judge Amit Mehta order Google to sell the Chrome browser and end all processes that have allowed the company to illegally maintain a monopoly on online search.

Being forced to adopt arbitrary policies

The government says that Google has created such a situation in the market through its illegal methods that no matter what happens, Google always wins. 

According to the Justice Department, due to this dominant position of Google, American consumers have limited options and they are forced to bear the arbitrary policies of this technology giant. 

In August 2024, Judge Mehta ruled that Google adopted a strategy to give its search engine a dominant position by paying other companies, which is against competition. During the trial in 2023, it came to light that in 2021 Google had spent $ 26.3 billion for this purpose.

Judge Mehta also found that 70% of search queries in the US are made from portals where Google is the default search engine. The company's revenue sharing agreement has made it almost impossible for smaller search engines to compete. 

Google said in its defence that users choose it of their own choice because it is better than competitors like Bing or DuckDuckGo. 

But the Justice Department wants Google to stop all such agreements with Apple, Mozilla and smartphone manufacturers in which it is made the default search engine. 

Also, the government demands that Google make its search results and data available to competing search engines for a decade.

The government has made slight changes to its earlier proposals. It is no longer demanding the sale of Google's artificial intelligence-related products. 

Instead, the government wants Google to provide information about its investments in AI to federal and state authorities. The proposal was signed by Omid A. Asefi, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, while the Senate confirmation of Trump's nominee Gail Slater is still pending.

Google can appeal

Google plans to appeal the decision. In its motion filed on Friday, the company said that not much change is needed. Google believes that it should be allowed to pay for default placement, but with some flexible rules so that other search engines can also compete. According to Google spokesman Peter Schottenfels, the government's proposal will harm American consumers, the economy and national security.

Google Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker called the government's plan an "extremist intervention" that could threaten the security and privacy of millions of Americans and stifle innovation. 

Judge Mehta will hear the proposals in April, but Google has already signaled it will challenge any punitive order in a higher court, which could leave the case mired in years of legal wrangling.