Google Should Still Be Forced To Shed Chrome, Advocacy Group Argues

The filing does not create an immediate legal requirement; it asks the D.C. Circuit to go beyond the existing remedies order, which already forces Google to share search data with competitors and bans exclusive contracts for six years. The new request would add a forced sale of Chrome, fundamentally altering who controls the browser’s codebase and policy decisions. Engineers building extensions or privacy tools would need to monitor whether Chrome’s governance shifts to a neutral steward, which could affect APIs tied to search and AI integration.

If the court adopts the divestiture argument, Google would lose direct control over Chrome’s tracking-cookie policy, a change highlighted by the brief referencing Google’s April 2025 reversal on cookie handling. Developers who rely on Chrome’s current defaults for privacy compliance would have to adjust to a potentially stricter or more user-centric configuration. The cost of adapting would involve testing against a new browser owner’s release cadence and possibly re-architecting features that depend on Google-specific integrations.

The brief also targets the practice of paying Apple to be the default search engine, which the existing order still permits. Should the appellate court block those payments, Apple and Mozilla would need to source alternative search partners, likely affecting the revenue streams that fund their browser development. Engineers at those companies would have to integrate new search APIs and renegotiate ad-revenue sharing, incurring development and testing overhead.

Mozilla’s own friend-of-court brief warns that cutting off Google’s payments could cause a sharp revenue decline, implying that any court decision to ban the payments would have immediate financial implications for the Firefox project. This creates a tension between antitrust goals and the viability of competing browsers, meaning that any technical changes to default-search handling must be balanced against budget constraints. Engineers may see reduced resources for browser innovation if revenue drops, impacting feature roadmaps.

Overall, the legal push for Chrome divestiture and payment bans signals a possible future where browser privacy decisions are insulated from advertising incentives, but it also introduces uncertainty for developers who depend on the current ecosystem. Until a court ruling is issued, teams should track the case’s progress and prepare contingency plans for alternative default-search integrations and potential changes in Chrome’s policy governance.