Google’s Chrome browser would be worth $20 billion on the open market if the Justice Department succeeds in convincing a federal judge to order divestment, according to a report.
The DOJ will recommend in a Wednesday filing that US District Judge Amit Mehta order Chrome to be sold as part of a suite of changes aimed at ending Google’s monopoly power, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
If Chrome does hit the market, the browser would be worth “at least $15-20 billion, given it has over 3 billion monthly active users,” according to estimates by Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh.
The feds were widely expected to seek a breakup of Google’s search business as part of their proposed remedies. Mehta, who ruled in August that Google has an illegal monopoly over online search, will have sole discretion over which measures to implement.
A Chrome divestment is seen as critical to addressing Google’s monopoly because many users access the core search engine through the browser, sources told Bloomberg. Chrome controls 61% of web browser traffic, according to data from StatCounter.
Finding a buyer with the resources to buy Chrome and get a deal past regulators could prove difficult. Singh told Bloomberg that Microsoft-backed OpenAI is a logical suitor, while Amazon is possible but “extremely unlikely” due to inevitable antitrust scrutiny.
The DOJ has reportedly opted not to recommend that Google be forced to sell off its Android operating system. Instead, they will push for Google to be required to disconnect Android from other services, including the core search engine and the Google Play app store.
The feds also will recommend a host of other changes aimed at boosting competition, such as requiring Google to license data gleaned from its search engine to rivals and to allow web publishers more leeway to block the company from using their data to power artificial intelligence feature.
Under the DOJ’s proposal, the feds could pull back on their call for a forced sale of Chrome if other remedies prove effective enough without it, the report said.
Google declined to comment on Chrome’s estimated price tag.
“The DOJ continues to push a radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case,” Google vice president of regulatory affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland said in a statement.
“The government putting its thumb on the scale in these ways would harm consumers, developers and American technological leadership at precisely the moment it is most needed,” Mulholland added.
Mehta is expected to make his final decision on Google search remedies by next summer. Google has vowed to appeal the rulings – with CEO Sundar Pichai recently admitting that he expected the resulting court battles to stretch on for many years.
President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory represents another wild card. Trump, a longtime Google critic, has nevertheless recently signaled that he is reluctant to break up the company because doing so would be a win for China as well as other Big Tech rivals like Meta.
At the same time, Trump has nominated Big Tech critic Mike Gaetz to serve as his attorney general.
While Gaez’s confirmation is far from certain amid allegations of sexual misconduct during his time in Congress, the former Republican lawmakers has expressed support for breaking up Google in the past.
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