In an exciting development within the anti -monopoly issue faced by Google, Yahoo has emerged as an unexpected competitor on the famous Chrome browser, as it announced its desire to buy it if Google is forced to sell it.
Historical trial: The Ministry of Justice seeks to dismantle Google’s hegemony
On the fourth day of the US Department of Justice’s trial against Google’s monopoly in the field of research, several proposals were presented, most notably forcing Google to sell its Chrome browser. The government believes that Chrome represents a major distribution channel for the search engine that gave Google excessive power that is difficult for competitors.
Yahoo: An internal development and movements to buy a browser
Brian Profus, director of the Yahoo Research Department, confirmed that the company started last summer to develop its own browser as a preliminary model, indicating that about 60 % of the search operations take place through browsers, most of which are directly from the address bar.
He explained that Yahoo is also open to the option to buy a ready browser, and revealed that there are “ongoing” conversations with other companies – without mentioning the names – on this matter.
Attention to Chrome: an ambition to double the market share
Provost said that the Chrome acquisition may raise the share of Yahoo in the 3 % search market to double numbers. He described Chrome as “perhaps the most important strategic player on the web”, and stated that the deal may require “tens of billions of dollars”, noting that Yahoo is able to secure financing with the support of its owner, Apollo Global Management.
Not yahoo alone in the square
Yahoo was not the only one to show interest in Chrome, as representatives of Perplexity and Openai also expressed their desire to acquire it. On the other hand, the CEO of Duckduckgo stressed that his company does not have the financial ability to take this deal.
Netscape paradox
One of the striking paradoxes is that APOLLO, which owns Yahoo, also owns the Netscape brand, one of the most famous browsers in the beginnings of the Internet, which in turn was a focus on previous monopoly cases. But Provember ruled out that Netscape would be eligible to compete in the market now, saying that it is not considered a “active browser”.
