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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

#541

Post by Xelbair »

MichaelCharles wrote: post #323
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.

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…

If there's no market for that it will die, simple as.

keeping chrome alive isn't the goal, keeping the web not being at whims of a single company is.

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#542

Post by dataviz1000 »

forgotoldacc wrote: post #367
matwood wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Splitting off Chrome doesn't make any sense as a stand alone business. Anyone who could buy Chrome would immediately cause other anti-trust issues. This solution for Google is probably bad for consumers. What the DoJ should be pursuing is having Google divest YouTube. Now we're talking real change.

And if they sold off Youtube, we'd have 500 comments saying, "This is a bad idea. They can't make a profit. They should divest from Chrome." Splitting Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, etc up all at once and into multiple separate pieces each would be great for consumers. But that's a huge undertaking, and the bigger the changes required, the less likely they are to happen. Taking it one step at a time, with the firs…

Splitting these companies would also be good for people like Bezos and Gates as splitting Standard Oil was good for Rockefeller. They don't lose their interest in the companies and the newly formed companies likely will benefit from the competition creating much more aggregated wealth. In the end, the breakup of Standard Oil made Rockefeller wealthier. He gained from owning shares in the spinoff companies, their rising market value because competition, diversified investments, and the growing demand for oil.

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#543

Post by chucke1992 »

Ameo wrote: post #538

My primary worry here is that this would hurt the open web - whether or not splitting out Chrome into a separate business would be good for consumers in and of itself. It's true that Google adds a lot of things to Chrome or their own benefit or even the potential detriment of others like Mozilla. That being said, they also do a tremendous amount of work to push the state of the web forward and, most importantly, they…

Google has to be dismantled in parts one way or another - too much control over search and Youtube to the point where they are able to enforce Chrome standards that prevent adblocks from working.

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#548

Post by pjc50 »

rkharsan64 wrote: post #510

People here seem to be underestimating the advantages that Google gets just because of Chrome: - When you sign in to Google, you sign in browser-wide. Google now gets all of your browsing data, perfect for advertising. (If you ever doubt it, go check out Google Takeout. You'll be shocked at the amount of data you see there.) - They have special APIs and features that they get to use, and nobody else. Only because the…

The problem is this:

- the browser is undeniably critical as everyone's window through which they view the online world;

- the user gains a huge amount of value by a browser being integrated into the OS, webviews in other applications, etc

- browsers aren't really a self funding product

- having a single for-profit US advertising company control everyone's view of the online world, however slightly (e.g. by obstructing adblockers), is Not Good

Splitting it off solves the latter problem but immediately raises the question of how to pay for it. A very artificial arrangement where Google pay "arms length browserco" to maintain Chrome?

Re: DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

#549

Post by Timber-6539 »

rkharsan64 wrote: post #510

People here seem to be underestimating the advantages that Google gets just because of Chrome: - When you sign in to Google, you sign in browser-wide. Google now gets all of your browsing data, perfect for advertising. (If you ever doubt it, go check out Google Takeout. You'll be shocked at the amount of data you see there.) - They have special APIs and features that they get to use, and nobody else. Only because the…

Everything here you accuse Google of doing, Apple is running circles on. Ultimately, if this case goes through Google are right about one thing. The UX on Chrome is going to take a steep nose dive.
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