Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

DOJ: Google must sell Chrome, Android could be next

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 164 posts

Re: DOJ: Google must sell Chrome, Android could be next

#22

Post by Ar-Curunir »

bsimpson wrote: post #20
bobajeff wrote: post #10

I think Google should just be split up into baby Google's that each have to cooperate with each other. Like we did with Bell. Also we should do the same thing to Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook. In fact I think we should do it again to AT&T and also Comcast. This should probably be done every so often as maintenance.

I don't understand how this worldview coexists with countries like Russia and China. If the feds kneecap US companies, it's not going to make the next generation of US companies stronger, just cede influence to worse jurisdictions.

So competition isn’t actually good for free market economics?

Re: DOJ: Google must sell Chrome, Android could be next

#23

Post by awongh »

martinsnow wrote: post #14
bobajeff wrote: post #10

I think Google should just be split up into baby Google's that each have to cooperate with each other. Like we did with Bell. Also we should do the same thing to Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook. In fact I think we should do it again to AT&T and also Comcast. This should probably be done every so often as maintenance.

Which business units should be broken up?

Chrome, search/ads, youtube, consumer apps - gmail & docs etc.

Re: DOJ: Google must sell Chrome, Android could be next

#24

Post by nyc_data_geek1 »

bsimpson wrote: post #20
bobajeff wrote: post #10

I think Google should just be split up into baby Google's that each have to cooperate with each other. Like we did with Bell. Also we should do the same thing to Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook. In fact I think we should do it again to AT&T and also Comcast. This should probably be done every so often as maintenance.

I don't understand how this worldview coexists with countries like Russia and China. If the feds kneecap US companies, it's not going to make the next generation of US companies stronger, just cede influence to worse jurisdictions.

Breaking monopolies doesn't kneecap US companies. Noncompetitive markets do that. Forcing healthy competition is how we keep competitive advantage, failing to do so is how we lose it. See: Deepseek

Re: DOJ: Google must sell Chrome, Android could be next

#25

Post by 9283409232 »

staplung wrote: post #8

Honest question: who are the potential realistic buyers of Chrome? OS vendors already have their own browsers and Chrome doesn't directly make much (any?) money.

I don't mean this because he is topical but Musk makes the most sense. In the same way Brave has Brave Wallet, if Musk really wants to force his X Pay and Wallet on the world, integrating with the most popular browser is a solid move.

Re: DOJ: Google must sell Chrome, Android could be next

#26

Post by martinsnow »

SteveNuts wrote: post #18
martinsnow wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which business units should be broken up?

Microsoft and Azure, Bing, Office 365 Amazon (the retailer portion) and AWS, and probably their logistics wing

None of those are owned by Google

Re: DOJ: Google must sell Chrome, Android could be next

#28

Post by iAMkenough »

bobajeff wrote: post #10

I think Google should just be split up into baby Google's that each have to cooperate with each other. Like we did with Bell. Also we should do the same thing to Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook. In fact I think we should do it again to AT&T and also Comcast. This should probably be done every so often as maintenance.

Don't forget the other industries suffering from the same problem: Walmart, UnitedHealth Group, Berkshiere Hathaway, ExxonMobil, JPMorgan Chase, etc.

Re: DOJ: Google must sell Chrome, Android could be next

#29

Post by martinsnow »

awongh wrote: post #23
martinsnow wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which business units should be broken up?

Chrome, search/ads, youtube, consumer apps - gmail & docs etc.

Breaking up workspace would hinder Google in competing with Office and Zoho

Re: DOJ: Google must sell Chrome, Android could be next

#30

Post by dbg31415 »

This is so dumb.

Look, I hate how dominant Chrome is. It’s basically a glorified data vacuum for Google—and it’s only getting worse. But at the end of the day, people choose to use Chrome, and I don’t see why Google shouldn’t be allowed to own and develop it. There are still plenty of other browsers people can switch to.

Now, what’s actually dangerous is the growing trend of sites blocking non-Google search engines from indexing their content. That’s a real issue—and it’s escalating fast. Selling Chrome won’t do a damn thing to fix that.

Besides, no other company has the budget or incentive to maintain Chrome at the level Google does. If they’re forced to give it up, then what? A half-baked, underfunded mess? A fragmented ecosystem? None of this feels like a win.

... unless your goal is to have Elon be able to pick up a new browser to go along with Twitter and TickTock.

Post reply on HN