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DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

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Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#311

Post by swiftcoder »

jascination wrote: post #183
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> only reason I still use Chrome is because I already use other Google products and they integrate well together This is the point. Google's products integrate with Chrome better than non-Google products. Including its ad platform.

1) does it though? It seems like the Google-specific parts of it are pretty ancillary to the whole experience 2) how is it different to Apples integration with Safari?

> 2) how is it different to Apples integration with Safari?

It's only different in the share of the overall market they hold - and it's notable that the EU has already acted to break Apple's monopoly over specifically the iOS browser market.

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#312

Post by yowayb »

I haven't read the article but I immediately see a few comments about benefitting consumers. I don't think that's the DOJ's charter. I think when you consider all the things that Google is to the government and to the people, this decision makes sense. It's weird that it becomes a discussion about what consumers want.

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#313

Post by peutetre »

charliebwrites wrote: post #60

Plot Twist: Google sells Chrome, then immediately forks Chromium and starts a new “completely unrelated” browser with all the same features called “Magnesium”

The actual plot twist will be Google transacts some business with Trump and the problem will be "solved".

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#314

Post by rvense »

eru wrote: post #308
wesselbindt wrote: post #306

I'm very surprised by the number of people in this thread who don't seem to understand that monopolies are _very_ bad for consumers.

How is Chrome or Google a monopoly?

Monopoly is probably not the right word. "Trust" (as in "anti-trust") is maybe better, but I'm not sure the last gilded age really had a perfect analogy to what's been happening in the tech services sector.

The problem is these sprawling companies who make so many interrelated services and can suppress competition in one area (browsers, e-mail, video-over-the-internet) due to extreme profits in another area (ads).

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#315

Post by mrweasel »

curiouscat321 wrote: post #5

Who would possibly buy Chrome? Letting any of the large tech companies purchase it (the only possible buyers) would just give someone else monopolistic power. Chrome can’t exist as a standalone business without being even more consumer hostile.

Probably MicroFocus, they seem to buy everything and not do anything with it.

There is no potential buyers for Chrome that are serious and trustworthy. Chrome is not a profit center. Mozilla can't make money on Firefox and seems to be losing interest in the project, probably for the same reason. There's no reason to think that anyone would buy Chrome, keep it freely available and make money on the product.

Worst case is that some one will buy it, slap ads on it or turn it into a subscription service. Still I don't see that being enough to fund the Chromium/Blink development. While I do think the adding of features to the web could do with a slowdown, we're talking Internet Explorer 6 levels of stagnation if Chrome is sold of to the wrong entity.

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#317

Post by jrflowers »

legitster wrote: post #153

I'm all for competition and increasing consumer choices, but the government is really not making a case that this is supposed to help consumers. The only reason I still use Chrome is because I already use other Google products and they integrate well together. There are many other better options out there otherwise, and they are all free. Breaking out Chrome from Google will not in any way benefit me as a consumer. >…

> DOJ is trying to completely change Google's business model and dictate how they are supposed to make money

This is good reasoning. It is overreach for a regulatory body to do something that could impact the business model of a monopoly. Monopolies are bad, unless being a monopoly is part of that monopoly’s business model and an important part of how the monopoly makes money, in which case nothing should be done.

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#318

Post by whiplash451 »

yowayb wrote: post #312

I haven't read the article but I immediately see a few comments about benefitting consumers. I don't think that's the DOJ's charter. I think when you consider all the things that Google is to the government and to the people, this decision makes sense. It's weird that it becomes a discussion about what consumers want.

True, but that might be the way for the DOJ to win legally.

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#319

Post by jiri »

eviks wrote: post #287
justahuman74 wrote: post #18

What is the actual asset to buy precisely? The code is already mostly open. You'd be paying for a user base who could leave at any moment?

Users could switch from Google search at any moment, would you say search is not an actual asset to buy?

User has to choose search engine once. During every install of Chrome I see forced selection of search engine.

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#320

Post by chaxor »

graeme wrote: post #230
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> only reason I still use Chrome is because I already use other Google products and they integrate well together This is the point. Google's products integrate with Chrome better than non-Google products. Including its ad platform.

But where is the consumer benefit?

Perhaps if chrome finally fails people will move to better things, like servo https://github.com/servo/servo.

It would be nice to have a completely open source browser that can be built with a simple one liner from cargo. Having several thousands of eyes on the code daily to check for telemetry violations, privacy issues, security, and performance daily in mostly a single language, small, and well structured browser repo would be phenomenal compared to the disjoint jumbled messes we have today.

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