Google Chrome and Android are safely still in the hands of Google, after an antitrust ruling this week. I don’t support or deride this decision, as it’s far more complex than we could imagine. This is good news for Google at a time when they are dealing with concerns about other AI platforms, their online advertising business being declared a monopoly, and other setbacks as they try to build more business. A spinoff of these two key components would have been distinctly astounding, especially since both products are free to consumers. A breakup like this could have been ugly, as Chrome is the most popular browser by far, in a world where there are many browsers to choose, and all of them are free. Google does have a scary impact, however, as far as it’s vast reach into our tech lives.
A court will not force Google to sell off its Chrome browser or Android, a federal judge said in a court filing on Tuesday. The decision serves as a significant win for the tech company, which has avoided the most extreme possible outcome from a landmark antitrust case that determined the company was operating an illegal online search monopoly.
