In a landmark case from the US, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has been told it must sell its search browser Chrome, and take other measures to ensure fairer competition in the search arena.

Google is facing a harsh sentencing over its monopoly on search – the company has cornered about 90% of the search engine market, and Chrome is the world’s most popular browser.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is also saying that Alphabet must share its data and search results with rivals, and potentially even sell Android, to further deconstruct its search monopoly.

The split would be in place for up to ten years, and enforced by a court-appointed committee to bring what the judge described as an illegal monopoly under compliance.

“Google’s unlawful behaviour has deprived rivals not only of critical distribution channels but also distribution partners who could otherwise enable entry into these markets by competitors in new and innovative ways, the DOJ and antitrust enforcers said in the court filing.

The decision would put a stop to the billion dollar contracts Google has with Apple and other companies to make it the default search engine.

Google called the proposals “harmful” in a statement.

“DOJ’s approach would result in unprecedented government overreach that would harm American consumers, developers, and small businesses – and jeopardize America’s global economic and technological leadership at precisely the moment it’s needed most,” said Alphabet chief legal officer Kent Walker.

The Proposals

The proposals seem to target a wide range of Google’s offerings, and would prohibit the company from re-entering the browser market for five years after its split from Chrome becomes official.

If all else fails to restore fairer competition, Google may be forced to sell Android, its mobile operating system.

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Further, Google will be barred from buying or investing in search rivals, AI query-based products, and advertising tools.

Websites and publishers would also be given the power to opt out of being used for training Google’s AI products.

A technical committee – appointed by the judge and paid for by Google – would enforce Google’s compliance and be able to demand documents, look into software code, and interview employees.

Further, Google will not be able to require devices that run on Android to include its other products.

The decision also means that the search giant must licence its search results to competitors for a nominal costs and share data for free.

It can no longer collect any user data that cannot be shared due to privacy concerns – Google had previously used privacy concerns as a reason to withhold data from customers after the EU created similar stipulators, competitor DuckDuckGo alleged.