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The DOJ still wants Google to sell off Chrome

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Re: The DOJ still wants Google to sell off Chrome

#241

Post by mattlondon »

stefan_ wrote: post #215
loeg wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that's sort of the problem. An independent Chrome probably wouldn't be profitable. This is essentially just forcing Google to fire the Chrome developers.

I love how people in this thread just unilaterally declare and accept as fact that you can't possibly turn the monopolistic browser and browser engine powering millions of devices and with billions of users into a profitable business. Aim low I guess?

So please enlighten us, how will someone make money from the free product that is free and no one pays for because it is free?

Selling user browser data obviously won't fly (and note that Google has never explicitly nor directly sold user's browsing data as far as I know, but they do have a huge ad network that utilises cookies...), so what's the plan? Put ads in the browser? "Premium" features?

The only thing I can think of is highjacking links to Amazon et al to insert referral codes en masse, or selling links/ads on new tab pages.

Re: The DOJ still wants Google to sell off Chrome

#242

Post by ForTheKidz »

loeg wrote: post #197
thrance wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does upholding monopolies help Americans at all? Do not conflate the ballooning wealth of billionaires with any kind of improvement in your material conditions.

Americans marginally benefit from American owned monopolies over Chinese owned monopolies.

[flagged]

Re: The DOJ still wants Google to sell off Chrome

#243

Post by [deleted] »

thrance wrote: post #203
loeg wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans marginally benefit from American owned monopolies over Chinese owned monopolies.

How so? They pay almost no taxes, they capture a huge share of the market, they stifle innovation, they regularly engage in anti-user practices... The bottom 90% is owning an ever smaller share of the economy, while the real economy doesn't seem to grow that much.

[deleted]

Re: The DOJ still wants Google to sell off Chrome

#244

Post by scarface_74 »

sneak wrote: post #74
3vidence wrote: post #70

(Googler opinions are my own, don't work on chrome) Chrome has just been a better product for the last 10 to 15 years. Every other company has just failed to make a good browser because they lack the incentives to do so (have gone back and forth as a Firefox user). The only competitive browsers are those already built on chrome or safari. I'm not personally a big fan of Safari but it's bigger issue is that it is only…

I’m confused, as a firefox daily driver, why is firefox not a good browser? Or are we discounting it because it is funded by Google?

It kills my battery on my Mac about as bad as Chrome.

Re: The DOJ still wants Google to sell off Chrome

#245

Post by jacksnipe »

drivebyhooting wrote: post #229
jacksnipe wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making the argument that anti-trust is a bad idea because of geopolitics seems pretty wild to me.

Wild? Everything is just a tool. If enforcing antitrust harms national security then …

So the entire economy should be in service of national security? That’s preposterous.

Re: The DOJ still wants Google to sell off Chrome

#246

Post by scarface_74 »

LightHugger wrote: post #226
scarface_74 wrote: post #17

This is the absolutely dumbest thing that I have read. Who would buy Chrome and why? If you just want the codebase, you have Chromium. Chrome only monetizes because of ads. Then what happens to Chromebooks? Can Google no longer ship a browser with Android? Besides, unless you have an Android - which is only 30% of the US market or a Chromebook, everyone who uses Chrome went through the process of downloading it and m…

Monopolies are at their worst when they use their position to make a power play over a market (such as browsers) that isn't very profitable on it's own but can be used as a loss leader in a wider monopolistic scheme. This is when antitrust is needed most, by design. There's a bit of understanding you need to do, but not only is it not dumb, what you said about nobody wanting to buy chrome is actually part of the proo…

So who is going to fund a fully featured browser?

Re: The DOJ still wants Google to sell off Chrome

#247

Post by flanked-evergl »

dathery wrote: post #239
flanked-evergl wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not what is happening. I use Android, Chrome, and Google Search because the alternatives are quite poor. All of those things work better with alternatives than any competition. Android is the most open mobile OS, Chrome is the most open and non-coercive browser, Google Search works great with all other OS's and browsers.

Isn't "monopolies suppress competition" one of the classic reasons people think they should be broken up? I'm not saying you have to agree with that theory, but just observing a current lack of competition doesn't by itself seem like an argument against breakup.

Google is not suppressing competition. There are plenty of competing browsers and search engines, they all suck. On the Mobile OS side there is less but substantially more robust competition, even though I, personally, hate iOS. So breaking Google up because of a theoretical problem that is refuted by reality is nonsensible.

Re: The DOJ still wants Google to sell off Chrome

#248

Post by ofalkaed »

infinitezest wrote: post #101
qwerty456127 wrote: post #84

> The Justice Department also kept a Biden-era proposal that seeks to ban Google from paying companies like Apple, other smartphone manufacturers and Mozilla to make its search engine the default on their phones and browsers. RIP Firefox?

I recently switched to Vivaldi and have really liked it.

I made that switch quite a few years ago, got sick of dealing with extensions and configuring browsers. Vivaldi gives me enough out of the box to call it good.

Re: The DOJ still wants Google to sell off Chrome

#249

Post by moron4hire »

loeg wrote: post #196
irrational wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox seems to do fine without Google employees.

Firefox has been in decline for many years, sadly.

Indeed, it has not had even one moment of market share growth since about 8 months after Google Chrome was first released.

Re: The DOJ still wants Google to sell off Chrome

#250

Post by nuker »

OptionOfT wrote: post #49
lifeinthevoid wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Switch to Firefox!

Firefox on iOS has no built-in adblocker making it a no-go. And I need sync between platforms.

I use Wipr in Safari on both, iOS and Mac. Small one time purchase each. And i enable only passive filters, not the active one, that requires page access.
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