Google Calls DOJ's Chrome Sale Demand "Extreme" and "Illegal"

In a dramatic escalation of its antitrust battle with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Google has branded the DOJ's proposed remedy of forcing a Chrome sale as "extreme" and "illegal," reports Bloomberg. In a Friday court filing, Google argued that the DOJ's proposed divestiture is overly severe and inconsistent with the nature of the anticompetitive conduct found by the court.

The DOJ, along with several states, is seeking a court order compelling Google to sell Chrome alongside other significant changes to its business practices, aiming to increase competition in the online search market. However, Google contends that the proposed Chrome sale is disproportionate to the identified violations, which primarily involved exclusive contracts for its browser on smartphones and other devices.

"Extreme remedies are discouraged" by courts, Google's filing argued. "The remedies for anticompetitive conduct must be of the 'same type or class' as the violations," Google stated. The company further asserted that the DOJ's proposed remedy would stifle innovation and future investment.

Google's proposed alternative remedy, outlined by Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's vice president for regulatory affairs, in a blog post, focuses on increasing browser neutrality. Mulholland suggested allowing competing browsers like Safari to freely partner with any search engine they deem optimal for their users, while still enabling Google to share revenue with these competitors. The company also proposed allowing device makers to pre-load multiple search engines, eliminating the requirement to include Chrome and Google Search if other Google apps are present.

Google's filing marks its first official response to Judge Amit Mehta's earlier finding that the company illegally monopolized the online search and advertising markets. While Google has indicated its intention to appeal this ruling, it is currently barred from doing so until the case concludes.

"If DOJ felt that Google investing in Chrome, or our development of AI, or the way we crawl the web, or develop our algorithms, were at all anticompetitive, it could have filed those cases. It did not," Mulholland wrote in the blog post.

Judge Mehta has scheduled a proceeding in April to determine appropriate remedies for Google's anticompetitive practices. The judge has set a deadline of August 2025 for a final decision. The DOJ has declined to comment on Google's latest filing, referring reporters to its prior court submissions.