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U.S. regulators are proposing aggressive measures to restore competition to the online search market after a federal judge ruled Google maintained an illegal monopoly<\/a> for the last decade.<\/p>\n The sweeping set of recommendations filed late Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice could radically alter Google’s business, including possibly spinning off the Chrome web browser and syndicating its search data to competitors. Even if the courts adopt the blueprint, Google isn’t likely to make any significant changes until 2026 at the earliest, because of the legal system’s slow-moving wheels. <\/p>\n Here’s what it all means:<\/p>\n Federal prosecutors are cracking down on Google in a case originally filed during near the end of then-President Donald Trump\u2019s first term<\/a>. Officials say the main goal of these proposals is to get Google to stop leveraging its dominant search engine to illegally squelch competition and stifle innovation. <\/p>\n \u201cThe playing field is not level because of Google\u2019s conduct, and Google\u2019s quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired,\u201d the Justice Department asserted in its recommendations. \u201cThe remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these advantages.\u201d<\/p>\n Not surprisingly, Google sees things much differently. The Justice Department’s \u201cwildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court\u2019s decision,\u201d Kent Walker, Google’s chief legal officer, asserted in a blog post<\/a>. \u201cIt would break a range of Google products \u2014 even beyond search \u2014 that people love and find helpful in their everyday lives.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s still possible that the Justice Department could ease off on its attempts to break up Google, especially if President-elect Donald Trump takes the widely expected step of replacing Jonathan Kanter, who was appointed by President Joe Biden to oversee the agency\u2019s antitrust division. <\/p>\n Regulators want Google to sell off its industry-leading Chrome web browser, though the filing did not specify who would ultimately buy the business or how that process would work. <\/p>\n Justice lawyers called Chrome a \u201cgateway to the internet\u201d that provides the search giant with data it then uses for targeted advertising. Regulators believe that asking Google to divest Chrome would create a more equal playing field for search competitors. <\/p>\n Chrome also is included in the set of apps bundled with Android on phones as part of a mobile device ecosystem that regulators say gives Google a big edge. <\/p>\n Chrome is the world\u2019s most popular mobile web browser, with about 67% adoption globally, according to StatCounter. Apple\u2019s Safari browser has the next highest adoption at 18%.<\/p>\n Although it could be years before we see any practical effects of this case on the market, it could mean users would see more search engine options when selecting a default one to use on their favored devices.<\/p>\n While federal regulators aren’t going as far as to demand Google spin off Android, they are leaving the door open. <\/p>\n The government asked the judge to impose behavioral limitations that would essentially blunt Android from favoring Google\u2019s own general search services.<\/p>\n Regulators asserted U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta should make it clear that Google could still be required to divest its smartphone operating system if the other proposed measures prove ineffective at restoring competition to the search market.<\/p>\n