The DOJ and a group of US states have argued that Google should be forced to sell off its popular Chrome web browser. — Photo by appshunter.io on Unsplash
Google’s Chrome web browser could be sold for as much as US$50bil (RM219.12bil), the chief executive officer of rival search engine DuckDuckGo testified on April 23 at the Justice Department’s antitrust trial against the Internet giant.
"I think it’s upwards of US$50bil if it went on the market, and that’s out of DuckDuckGo’s price range,” said Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of DuckDuckGo, which operates a privacy-focused search engine and browser.
Weinberg, who said the estimate was "back-of-the-envelope” math based on Chrome’s user base, testified as part of a three-week hearing in the DOJ’s case against Alphabet Inc’s Google to determine how to remedy the company’s monopoly in internet search.
Judge Amit Mehta ruled Google illegally monopolised the market last year and is contemplating a package of changes proposed by antitrust enforcers. The DOJ and a group of US states have argued that Google should be forced to sell off its popular Chrome web browser.
The US$50bil (RM219.12bil) figure given by Weinberg is higher than the roughly US$20bil (RM87.65bil) value estimated by Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh in November. Such a lofty price tag might dissuade potential buyers from making offers if Google were ordered to spin off Chrome.
Executives from artificial intelligence companies OpenAI and Perplexity testified earlier in the trial that their companies would be interested in buying Chrome if the court mandates a divestment. – Bloomberg
