Breaking up Google could make smaller browsers less competitive

A few weeks ago, Google got an unfavorable ruling in its antitrust case in the US. The jury determined that the Mountain View giant exercises a monopoly in the search engine segment. The Department of Justice (DOJ) suggested some remedies to the situation, including selling Chrome. However, the measures suggested by the DOJ against Google could make it more difficult for smaller browsers to compete.

US authorities want Google to separate itself from Chrome to solve the current monopoly situation. That said, this is not the only suggested measure on the list. The DOJ also wants to prohibit deals where browser developers set Google as the default search engine after a payment from the company.

Potential measures against Google could make smaller browsers less able to compete

Google offers generous payments to other browser developers to set the popular search engine as their default. In fact, in certain cases, deals with Google provide the majority of the funding for browsers, especially the smaller ones. With that in mind, you can intuit why a total ban on such deals would be detrimental.

If the US authorities have their way, they would eliminate most of the funding for smaller browsers as collateral damage. Of course, this will make those smaller browsers less competitive. Without funding, they will not be able to continue developing new features or innovating. Ironically, this proposal in particular, which seeks to solve a monopoly situation, could lead to the strengthening of the big players and the death of the less prominent names.

In that case, the smaller browsers would have no other option than to try to adapt to the situation. They will have to look for new business models that help them survive or continue operating. This could lead to more invasive ads or more lax data privacy policies, for example.

Deals with Google represent the main financing of several small browsers

Google has reached agreements related to its search engine with both large and small players in the tech industry. According to reports, the company paid Apple $20 billion to make Google the default search engine in Safari in 2022. On the other hand, the agreement with Google is the main means of financing Firefox. The DOJ’s suggested measure could have a negative impact on Mozilla’s browser development and maintenance.

“The prohibition on search agreements with all browsers regardless of size and business model will negatively impact independent browsers like Firefox and have knock-on effects for an open and accessible internet,” a Mozilla spokesperson said.