I’m aware that it’s worrisome that PC Gamer and I are both down for this.
Earlier this week it was reported that the US Department of Justice’s top antitrust officials would likely ask a judge to enforce a significant break up of Google, in part proposing that Chrome be sold off.
[snip]
Not only will a judge be asked to enforce Google’s sale of Chrome, but the filing made to a Washington federal court also outlines that, “following its divestiture of Chrome [Google] may not reenter the browser market for five years” (via The Guardian).
…On the other hand, I’ve been watching my site disappear from Google Search for several years now, only to replaced by crappy ads and AI-generated chaff. A lot of Google’s search and indexing stuff just flat-out sucks now, and I’m not really thrilled with Docs, Maps, and all the other stuff I use every day. I appreciate that the company is there to make money, but I’m not a hardcore libertarian. I’m perfectly fine with the government wielding an antitrust broom, and using it every so often to sweep away a monopoly or two.
And on the gripping hand? Come January, that broom will be held by a different hand. Whether that hand will decide to keep sweeping, put the broom back, or decide to swap out for a power-washer has yet to be determined.
I’m rooting for power washer.
Seriously? Out of all the things Alphabet has done, the feds focus on Chrome?
Bruh.
In such cases, you have to fight the most obvious abuses, and then dig from there. Search results manipulation is probably the most prove-able in a court of law.