Google must fully divest Chrome, optionally divest Android, US DOJ says
( November 21, 2024, 04:04 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: Google must "promptly and fully" divest its Chrome browser to a buyer approved by the US Department of Justice and a Colorado-led coalition of states to remedy the illegal monopoly it holds in the Internet search market, the government said in a final remedy proposal to a US court. Additionally, Google may elect to fully divest Android as part of a prohibition on foreclosing or otherwise excluding general search services and search text ad competitors through ownership or control of related products, the government said. Following its divestiture of Chrome, Google may not reenter the browser market for five years, the DOJ and states said in an executive summary to the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Google should also be prohibited from owning not only a browser but also from owning or acquiring any investment or interest in any search or search text-ad rival, search distributor, or rival query-based AI product or ads technology. "Google’s financial entanglements with current or future rivals risk compromising the proposed remedy," the government said.
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