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Google's Chrome Pushed to Sale

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Bloomberg Nov 19 21:17 · 15.4k Views

The DOJ is said to push the sale of Google's Chrome browser over concerns of a "search" monopoly.

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  • 00:00 Sarah, I mean, just put your thumb on the scales here as Google is pushing back on on the government for so doing.
  • 00:06 Do you think this has any chance of getting through that something as seismic as Chrome being sold off would happen?
  • 00:14 I think personally it's unlikely
  • 00:16 it was unchallenged conduct in the decision.
  • 00:20 So if you go back and read the 286 page decision from August 5th,
  • 00:25 there is for doing that for us because
  • 00:28 we don't have the time
  • 00:30 there.
  • 00:30 Yeah, there's discussion about the contracts
  • 00:33 and the preloading of the Google suite
  • 00:36 and a little bit on the Chrome browser, but unchallenged conduct was the search
  • 00:43 bar in the Chrome
  • 00:45 window.
  • 00:45 And so that wasn't challenged at trial.
  • 00:48 And so,
  • 00:49 you know, there would have to be fact finding and a discussion of the browser market in the April hearing.
  • 00:56 Like the prior speaker said,
  • 00:59 August 2025 is when a decision will come out on remedies.
  • 01:04 And also of note, Google has an opportunity to submit their proposed remedies
  • 01:09 December 20th.
  • 01:11 So it really is an ongoing process.
  • 01:14 The last two big cases, Microsoft and AT&T,
  • 01:18 took nearly a decade to resolve,
  • 01:20 and Microsoft
  • 01:21 appealed successfully, AT&T less so.
  • 01:24 Sarah,
  • 01:26 do you therefore think some other changes could be made to fight the idea
  • 01:31 that Google is monopoly or monopolistic
  • 01:34 in search?
  • 01:34 What could Google enact here itself?
  • 01:38 Well, I think
  • 01:40 at issue are the contracts.
  • 01:41 So the way they contract with Samsung or the other OEM
  • 01:47 providers,
  • 01:48 that could change.
  • 01:50 But Even so,
  • 01:52 there's so much dynamism in the market.
  • 01:54 Samsung uploads its own S browser and I, you know, read that in the decision.
  • 02:00 Other Android platforms, they have their own browsers.
  • 02:04 And so I think right now the market is so dynamic too with
  • 02:09 AI search
  • 02:11 windows that,
  • 02:12 you know,
  • 02:13 the way
  • 02:14 Google responds will have to
  • 02:18 reflect what's happening in the AI market.
  • 02:20 Let's just talk about
  • 02:22 AI and the data that maybe they'd be forced to license in some way.
  • 02:27 Will that be positive or negative
  • 02:29 for the rest of the market, not just Google,
  • 02:32 right.
  • 02:33 I think operationally that would be very difficult to
  • 02:36 work through.
  • 02:37 So that would also be a years long process.
  • 02:40 I don't know how great
  • 02:43 lawyers are at product design.
  • 02:45 So to the extent that I mean, there is some talk that there there might have Franned
  • 02:51 FRA and D licensing terms
  • 02:54 in the proposed remedies and that is
  • 02:57 something that is familiar in the intellectual property and standards development world.
  • 03:03 But to the level of data sharing and you know, opening that pipeline of AI
  • 03:09 data, that would be
  • 03:11 a very new type of remedy
  • 03:13 that we can see from the share price that the market isn't freaking out about this.
  • 03:16 But there does seem to be a cloud over Google for the next few years, maybe even decade, as you were saying, Sarah,
  • 03:22 what about
  • 03:23 an administration change in 2025?
  • 03:26 Does that bear any thought for you?
  • 03:29 Yes.
  • 03:29 What's interesting though, is the first Trump administration brought the suit.
  • 03:33 So you have that,
  • 03:35 although Assistant AG Macon Delrahim recused
  • 03:40 himself.
  • 03:40 So
  • 03:41 this case has a long history so far.
  • 03:45 You hear kind of murmurs about the next administration
  • 03:48 wanting to continue activity, but
  • 03:51 at the same time,
  • 03:53 you know,
  • 03:54 they seem to be more pro
  • 03:57 innovation and and technology.
  • 03:59 So
  • 04:00 we'll see what
  • 04:02 whoever is attorney general and then assistant attorney general,
  • 04:05 at least inside the Beltway, we're all kind of guessing who it could be, but who knows
  • 04:10 yet.