Google Got Away With It
Chrome Crisis Is Over, Google Breathes Easy
People generally like disaster news more than positive news. Even though many places, including us, wrote and discussed the disaster that was about to happen to Google, the news that the judge said Google didn't need to be broken up seemed to get less attention. I wanted to write about both the Chrome issue and the current situation in browser wars together with this topic.
Google Went to Court, We Panicked for Nothing
Google's antitrust case started in September 2023. A year ago, in August 2024, the US Columbia District Court decided that Google broke Section 2 of the Sherman Act and had a monopoly in search and related advertising. After this decision, we can say everything went crazy. Everyone started talking about how they would be forced to sell Chrome and Android products. We wrote about these things too, of course.
But last week, US District Judge Amit Mehta, who was handling the case, made a decision about the punishments requested by the Department of Justice, including forcing Google to sell its Chrome browser, which provides data that helps serve ads - Google's golden goose.
According to the judge's decision, Google won't need to get rid of Chrome. Also, the court won't include the conditional sale of the Android operating system in its final decision. The parties will meet on September 10th for the final decision.
Google Said Hello, Court Said Welcome
Looking at the decisions, we can say Google got off cheap. Having to sell Chrome and/or Android would have hurt Google badly. With Chrome having more than 70% market share on desktop and more than 69% on mobile, Google can easily collect user data for both advertising and artificial intelligence.
Chrome: The Neighbor Who Knows Everything in the Digital World
Research shows that Google Chrome collects much more data than its competitors. For example, according to Surfshark's analysis:
Chrome collects 20 different types of data: contact lists, financial information, location, browsing and search history, identifiers, usage data, diagnostics, and much more.
Chrome stands out as the only browser that collects financial data: it can access sensitive information like payment methods, card numbers, bank account details, and the user's device address book.
What Would Happen If Chrome Didn't Exist? (Spoiler: Google Would Still Be Rich)
Google's biggest source of income is clearly advertising. More than 75% of its revenue comes from here. The data it collects through Chrome, especially search history, browsing habits, location, and financial information, allows it to make the ads it shows hyper-personalized.
If Chrome didn't exist, Google would have to rely only on search engine data. Even in this case, it would be a strong advertiser, but ad scope and personalization would be limited. Thanks to Chrome, Google can see not only what users search for, but also which sites they visit, how long they stay, what they buy, and which device they use. Without these details, Google's ad targeting accuracy would drop, advertisers would pay less, and Google's revenues would be lower.
Google's 61 Billion Dollar Data Factory: Chrome's Secret Service
We can say Chrome is a data supermarket for Google. Even without it, Google would still be powerful, but it would be a giant that sees less, can target less, and simply has less revenue. According to Barclays analysts, Chrome creates an impact equal to about 35% of Google's search revenues. According to 2023 data, Google earned 175 billion dollars from search advertising. So Chrome's contribution to Google is about 61 billion dollars based on 2023 figures.
Good money. Good money that you can't afford to lose.
Plot Twist: Atlassian Enters the Scene!
After Google kept its position in browser wars, last week's other important topic was Atlassian, which develops business software, buying The Browser Company, which develops the Arc browser, for 610 million dollars.
This was really an unexpected move. It's interesting that this purchase, which was expected to come from companies like OpenAI and Perplexity, went to Atlassian. Atlassian will probably position the Arc browser for business use. I expect that after Atlassian's integration, they will turn Arc into something that makes workflows easier in SaaS products and automates tasks in browser tabs.
Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes also said that current browsers were developed in an era before the business world, SaaS applications, and artificial intelligence, so Atlassian wants to turn Arc into a solution that is "special for business and offers superior productivity."
Browsers Are Not Just Browsers Anymore (They Got Smart Too!)
Modern browsers have become the center of our daily digital experience. After the artificial intelligence revolution, browsers are no longer just tools that display web pages - they're turning into smart assistants. That's why companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft, as well as AI companies like OpenAI, xAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity, want users to use their products as default browsers. When you think about the big economy Google created from this, it's not hard to understand why so many companies want a bite of this pie.
Result: Google Won, We're Still Using Chrome
It was very important for Google to save Chrome. The court even accepted the default search engine agreement with Apple as legal. So Google will continue making money through its browser. And continue producing data, of course.
If we think that other big players won't sell their assets either, AI companies don't have many options other than new products. Since The Browser Company, which stood out among the big ones, went to Atlassian, they'll try to create new products and make them stick.
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