Is DOJ Fighting Yesterday’s Battle Against Google Chrome?

The U.S. Department of Justice has proposed that Google sell off its Chrome browser to make the complaints of Google being a monopoly disappear.

It is not the only legal fight Google is facing: In the UK, the search giant is facing a ￡7 billion ($8.8 billion) class action lawsuit due to the company’s web search dominance.

2024 will go down in history as being a bad year for the tech giants, with Meta, Amazon, Apple, and Google all hitting the headlines for being accused of breaking antitrust rules.

Internet historians may find this story sounds familiar: a memory of regulatory crackdowns in the 1990s that hobbled Microsoft’s dominance and kept the tech giant wrapped up in legislative battles for the best part of a decade, paving the way for today’s household names to rise to prominence.

Today, those same regulators have set their sights again on the tech giants, questioning their market control and practices. The measures that once nurtured innovation are now reining it in.

But this time around, are regulators already behind the curve?

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Chrome's Success and the Parallels to the 90's Browser Wars
3. Is the DOJ Fighting Yesterday's Battle Against Google?
4. The Bottom Line
5. FAQs
6. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Chrome's Success and the Parallels to the 90's Browser Wars
3. Is the DOJ Fighting Yesterday's Battle Against Google?
Show Full Guide
4. The Bottom Line
5. FAQs
6. References

Chrome’s Success and the Parallels to the 90’s Browser Wars

Google Chrome is the world’s most popular web browser, with Chrome’s market share at 66% of the market. Its closest competitor is Apple Safari with an 18% market share, but ironically, Apple is also facing a ￡3B lawsuit over an alleged iCloud storage monopoly.

Despite winning the browser wars in the nineties, Microsoft Edge trails way behind with only 5.25% of the browser market. Finally, former indie favorite Firefox has also fallen on hard times, now seeing only 2.65% of web users and repeated rumors that it’s rapidly running out of money.

Firefox Has 9 Months of Income Left (Possibly Less)

The USA v Google lawsuit is going to result in a massive shakeup for Web Browsers and Search Engines.

Also: Will Google be forced to sell off Android (when they sell off Chrome)? We'll know next August. pic.twitter.com/L8tVnOhZoy

— The Lunduke Journal (@LundukeJournal) November 22, 2024

Around 3.45 billion internet users currently use Chrome as their browser and its user base has grown by 4.5% compared to last year. In total, Chrome has added 1.06 billion new users in the previous five years.

However, Google is running out of road after being accused by the DOJ of locking out competition, partly by tying Android to Google Search and Google Chrome. It also makes substantial payments to companies like Apple to remain the default search option. Once again, these charges sound familiar to those who remember the case against Microsoft in the nineties.

Tech commentators believe that forcing Google to sell Chrome does not help a new generation rise up: It merely transforms the search monopoly to someone else with a new name and logo.

Forcing Google to sell Chrome is absurd. Chrome is worth billions to Google but not on the open market. And any company that buys it would just be creating a new monopoly. Also ridiculous: proposals to untie Play from Android, which is impossible. https://t.co/QaDE85lZrN

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) November 18, 2024

Is the DOJ Fighting Yesterday’s Battle Against Google?

Despite the headlines, the DOJ is arguably way behind the curve this time, as Google’s search market is already under attack. A quick look at the search habits inside any multi-generational home will reveal how search is now fragmented, with users naturally migrating away from Google and towards AI services like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Grok.

why is the DOJ making google sell chrome to end its search monopoly?

AI is already killing search

just use perplexity, it’s way better than google search

the DOJ is stupid

— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) November 21, 2024

In an upcoming conversation with Michael Walrath, the chairman and CEO of Yext Inc., he told me we’re approaching a massive tectonic shift around how we find, consume, and engage with information. Walrath advised that this is only so surprising because we’ve spent the last 15 years in one of the most stable monopolies ever seen.

Walrath said:

“We’re witnessing a fragmentation of the search experience. Consumers are moving from a single, centralized model to multiple platforms offering a variety of discovery methods, each tailored to a different type of need.

“Generative AI experiences feel magical because they are conversational and don’t require retraining when you ask another question. This change challenges the singular, highly monetized model we’ve relied on for decades.”

A quick comparison of multi-generational search habits will reveal how fragmented discovery has become. For example, Gen Z might use Google for products, ChatGPT for knowledge, and TikTok for advice. The world of search is changing. We are already seeing businesses rethinking their SEO and SEM strategies to remain competitive.

Walrath added:

“We’re entering a world where the consumer experience isn’t just about finding information — it’s about interacting with it in a conversational, intuitive way that feels natural and seamless.”

If you agree with this, you might agree that the DOJ is chasing ghosts of old battles: no real value proposition for the consumer in splitting Chrome from Google while making the dominant browser a victim of its own success.

It is arguably a tech version of “Tall Poppy Syndrome”, where anything too successful needs to be chopped down.

The Bottom Line

I recently received a referral from a client who found me through a ChatGPT query rather than a Google Search. That was unexpected.

As search habits continue to change, being on the first page of Google will eventually lose its value, which would hit Alphabet even harder than any DOJ antitrust case.

With conversational AI and TikTok going toe-toe against traditional search engines, perhaps Google should be left to work out its own future rather than fighting battles on two fronts.

FAQs