The world's largest search engine corporation, Google, criticized the U.S. government's proposal to forcibly sell its web browser, Chrome, as a solution to alleviate its monopoly in the search market and presented its own solution.
According to Bloomberg News and others on the 21st (local time), Google argued in materials submitted to a federal court in Washington, D.C., where an antitrust lawsuit is ongoing, that "forcing the sale of Chrome is extreme and contrary to the law." It also noted that "extreme measures are not encouraged by the court" and that "remedies for anti-competitive conduct must be of the same type or category as the violations."
This is in response to the Department of Justice's proposal last month to resolve the monopoly after a federal court ruling in August that Google illegally maintained its monopoly in the online search market, which included forcing the sale of Chrome.
In doing so, Google proposed its own solution to alleviate the monopoly to the court. Google stated that it could limit the "revenue sharing agreements" made with companies like Apple regarding the setting of its search engine as the default search engine on Apple devices or browsers.
Previously, the court ruled that Google blocked competitors' market success by paying tens of trillions of won to companies like Apple and Samsung as a condition for setting the default search engine.
Google proposed to provide opportunities for smartphone manufacturers like Apple to select other search engines as the default alongside Google. It also suggested allowing these companies to change the default search engine at least every 12 months, thereby ensuring flexibility in the contract period.
Google holds over 90% of the global online search market. The federal court in Washington, D.C., is expected to decide on a solution to Google’s monopoly by August.