If Google has to sell its Chrome browser, it will come with a hefty price tag. Competitor DuckDuckGo estimates the browser’s value at at least 50 billion dollars.
Will Google have to sell Chrome soon? That’s the million-dollar question that will be answered during the antitrust case against Google. In practice, it involves a lot more money. During the trial, the value of the Chrome browser is estimated at at least 50 billion dollars.
The estimate doesn’t come from Google itself, but from Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of DuckDuckGo who testified during the trial. DuckDuckGo is a competitor of Google in the browser market, but its market share doesn’t come close to that of Chrome. Weinberg’s calculation is, according to him, based on the number of Chrome users.
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Google Chrome is ‘Worth at Least 50 Billion Dollars’ According to Competitor
An ‘official value’ of Chrome is not known. Bloomberg analysts are much more cautious with twenty billion dollars. Google Chrome has a worldwide market share of 66 percent: no other browser comes close. Add to that Google’s advertising machine operating behind the scenes of the browser, and Chrome is literally worth its weight in gold for Google.
Historic Decision
Google itself has no plans to put Chrome in the showcase, but the court could force them to do so. The American court accuses Google of monopolization and under the Trump administration, the government seems to want to tighten the screws on Big Tech.
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Google Chrome is ‘Worth at Least 50 Billion Dollars’ According to Competitor
A surprising potential buyer has already come forward. OpenAI sees the browser as a useful tool to bring ChatGPT to even more people than the 400 million users it already has. Google integrates its own Gemini models into its products, making ChatGPT only available via extensions or separately installable applications. This gives Gemini an advantage over ChatGPT.
A forced sale of Chrome could be a historic ruling, not seen since telecom giant AT&T broke up in the 1980s. A verdict is not expected until August, and then Google still has the time and resources to potentially appeal.
It won’t happen that quickly, but the lawsuit will be watched worldwide by friends and foes of Google. Not only Google is on trial, Meta also potentially faces a forced sale of WhatsApp and Instagram.