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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

#411
I wonder what the bounds of this would be. Most people still think of Chrome as just a browser, but there is quite a bit of other stuff:

Chrome Web Store

ChromeOS

Chromebook (somewhat intertwined with Android)

Chromecast (discontinued, sort of; succeeded by Google TV Streamer)

Web.dev (not Chrome branded, but probably wouldn't exist if Google didn't start Chrome)

Also, I have to wonder, if breaking off Chrome makes sense to the DOJ, does breaking off Android also make sense? Is that the next piece that they will propose?

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#412
post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>monopolies are _very_ bad for consumers Why? "Big companies bad" are one of those fundamental truthiness we are all supposed to believe for some reason but as a European I wish we had more US/Chinese-style megacorps who have dominant positions in some fields that allows them to innovate or provide free/cost-cutting products in other niches. Maybe we should reconsider what we consider monopolies in the 21st century.…

It follows from a few premises. The point of creating/allowing private companies to compete in a market and profit from doing so is to encourage them to innovate via competitive pressure. If you just wanted to produce well-understood goods or infrastructure then the most efficient way to do that is to pool resources and have the State do it, because they don't need to make a profit and, if not totally dysfunctional,…

Many thanks for this level-headed response, I'll save that if you don't mind.

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#413

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.

> 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. Bad for consumers , how? Financially? How does that translate to the current situation? The average "consumer" here is paying $0.00 for Google, Chrome, Gmail, Maps, Flights, Docs, Sheets, Chat, Meet, Books, Scholar, Shopping, YouTube, News, Groups, Voice... how are you going to argue…

you seems too afraid to lose your big tech salary

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#414
post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Monopolies are bad. Splitting up monopolies is good for the consumer. That doesn't mean this makes any sense. How are they going to separate Chrome from Chromium? If they do, what incentive does Google have to keep maintaining Chromium? Can Google make another new fork of Chromium and start yet another browser? Or are they now banned from making browsers? What company has the resources to maintain Chrome's massive co…

in general, I find a little bit distasteful that the only way to build a browser is as a loss leading project for the largest advertising company on the planet No wonder nobody can compete, loss leaders tend to kill competition as they can be maintained without direct business revenue at all. The same issue plagues domesticated cats, they don’t need to hunt for food since they have an abundance at home so instead wit…

I love how this went from "monopolies are bad" to "fuck cats".

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#416
post #329

I'm totally fine with this, but I wish they would do the same thing with Apple. Google's platform, at the very least is open and I can run my own apps. One could ask, "How is Apple a Monopoly, and do they abuse that position?". In my view it is, since you can't have a business or build connected hardware without an iOS app. And as for abusing that position for gaining market share, there are just too many examples st…

Google abuses privacy in every product they own via their monopoly over the ad ecosystem. Very different to Apple.

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#417
Arguably out of the big 4 (Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon) Google gave the most back to humanity: Android, Chromium, Kubernetes, Google Office suite, the Go programming language, Tensor Flow, Alpha Fold (and Google DeepMind), donating to Linux, etc. All these are things everyone has access to precisely because Google is such a big player and can afford to lose money on innovation that fails. What did Microsoft and Apple gave us? Yet Google gets targeted while Microsoft, Apple and Amazon are left alone. Why is that?

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#418
post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Splitting monopolies is good. On other hand splitting "free" product is somewhat questionable. When the competitor don't have exactly viable business model. Pushing for something that will clearly in not too distant future kill the split product is not helpful.

This exactly. An independent Chrome’s best path toward financial sustainability is closing down the source code and selling everyone’s browsing data to the highest bidder. We all like to have a high minded ideal of some kind of wonderful fully independent for-the-good-of-society entity stewarding Chrome, but history has shown us that’s not what will happen.

hopefully the fines you get from some of the worlds wealthiest nations wouldn’t eclipse the profit you’d make

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#420
post #387
post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Splitting monopolies is good. On other hand splitting "free" product is somewhat questionable. When the competitor don't have exactly viable business model. Pushing for something that will clearly in not too distant future kill the split product is not helpful.

What if this browser killed lots of other viable browsers because it was "free" (yet supported by and supporting a monopoly)? You never get to compare the products that never got to exist. related, I think google supported firefox to have a "viable" competitor to chrome and prevent monopoly scrutiny.

Same as Microsoft keeping Apple alive back in their own antichrist days.
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