Forcing Google to sell Chrome appears to be emerging as one of the main remedies the Department of Justice is pursuing in its antitrust victory against Google.

The DOJ prosecuted—and won—its case against Google, with the court concluding that Google was an illegal monopoly that used its position to dominate the search market. The DOJ made clear that all options were on the table remedial options were on the table, including breakup up the company.

According to a report by Bloomberg, via Reuters, the DOJ is recommending that Google be forced to sell its Chrome web browser. On the surface, the proposal makes a lot of sense for several reasons.

• Google Search is the dominant search engine, while Chrome is the dominant web browser by far. Owning Chrome gives Google an incredibly effective way to drive users to its search engine, making it that much harder for others to compete.
• A web browser is one of the most important pieces of software, in terms of protecting user privacy. Very few applications have access to more personal user data and habits than a browser. As a result, it is patently antithetical for a company that depends on advertising for the bulk of its income to also be entrusted with creating, maintaining, and securing a web browser, as well as ensuring that browser provides the best privacy protections.
• Being in control of the dominant search engine and web browser gives Google an inordinate amount of power of the very nature of the internet, including which protocols get adopted, which die off, and which ones further its own business interests.

Requiring Google to sell Chrome would address all of these issues, and force Google to compete on the merits of its products, not on the control it exerts over the internet.

As Bloomberg’s report makes clear, the DOJ reserves the right to readdress a potential sale of Chrome at a later date, depending on what other measures are taken and how effective they are. It’s possible other measures will achieve the desired result, eliminating the need to force a sale of Chrome.

One of the other possibilities is forcing Google to sell Android. Much like Chrome and the web, Android dominates the global smartphone market. With its deep integration with Google services, including Google Search, Android serves as another key funnel, pushing users further into the company’s ecosystem.