Google Faces Pressure to Sell Chrome. Why It Probably Won't Happen. -- Barrons.com

By George Glover

Google faces pressure to restructure its business -- but it's unlikely that the Biden administration's top antitrust officials will get all that they're wishing for.

The Justice Department will ask a judge to force Google to sell its Chrome web browser or Android operating system if it doesn't limit how it ties its search engine and mobile products together, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing a document seen by the publication. In August, a federal judge found that Google had illegally monopolized internet search.

Google would also be pushed to stop paying partners like Apple billions of dollars a year to make its search engine the default on web browsers, according to The Journal, citing part of a court filing due Wednesday.

Google and the Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a Barron's request for comment. Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's vice president of regulatory affairs, told The Journal that being forced to spin off Chrome or Android would "harm consumers, developers and American technological leadership."

It makes sense that the Biden administration is planning for a final barrage of shots at Big Tech before it leaves office in January -- but that doesn't mean Google will actually have to sell Chrome.

Judge Amit Mehta, who's responsible for setting Google's penalty, is planning to rule on the case next August. He's seen by legal scholars as being a by-the-book judge who's likely to follow precedent, rather than bow to pressure from the Justice Department.

The closest case happened almost a quarter of a century ago. In June 2000, a judge ordered the breakup of Microsoft. That decision was later reversed on appeal, and Google has plans to appeal any ruling here too.

Shares in Google parent Alphabet slipped 0.6% to $174.24 in premarket trading. Futures for the benchmark S&P 500 were down 0.4%.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

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November 19, 2024 07:26 ET (12:26 GMT)

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