Comment by niutech
5 days ago
How does splitting off Chrome as a separate company solve anything? They would still rely on Google for funding (like Mozilla) and being close friends they would do whatever Alphabet tells them to do.
A better solution is to implement a bill like DMA in the EU to enforce competition among web browser vendors and fight monopolies.
> A better solution is to implement a bill
Not that I disagree with the overall point, but this is something the DOJ does not do. They would just look at the current laws and decide who to prosecute based on their interpretation of events.
Unless you own a Chromebook, if you have Chrome on your computer, you made a choice to download it. How would a browser choice screen help?
It's less about PC and more about Android, where Chrome is preinstalled.
Probably it would forbid "Download Chrome" on Google and "Download Edge" on Bing.
But now Bing would have a chance of becoming the default search engine of the most used browser in the world.
That's the difference.
Bing is already the default search engine on the default browser of the most used OS in the world.
If they're not competing well, then that's entirely their fault. Microsoft is not at any kind of disadvantage here.
I don’t think Bing is the default search engine for Android’s browser. I could be wrong though. Is it? That would be a surprisingly fair-minded move of Google.
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>Bing is already the default search engine on the default browser of the most used OS in the world.
It's actually more embedded in Windows than Google is in Android.
If you change your default engine in Android it changes across the OS.
In Windows, there are dialogs that say "search bing for" embedded into places like the right click menu when you have text highlighted that remain even after attempting to express a different search choice. Another example is the search bar in a new tab.
Look at the effects of breaking up the bells into smaller companies....
Which of the bells provided a valuable free product that could only be funded via other product revenue streams?
BSD Unix comes to mind.
Frankly, who cares. The important part is that google doesn't own a browser.
Is the justice department then going to stop Google from using the open source Chromium project to create a new browser?
Almost certainly that would be part of a consent decree, which would prohibit Google from creating or controlling a browser for some period of time, and would include court supervision.
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If they want to do their job? Yes.
I expect there will be some material constraints that emerge in what browser features they're actually allowed to ship as shipping without a browser also seems to be anti-consumer.
Yes.
Yes, in the sense that me putting a gun to your head and ordering you to stay still isn't the same as me handcuffing you, because you can still physically move.