Category: News

You may recall that Alphabet is currently under investigation in the United States and that a potential breakup of the company is looming over the company’s head.

Suggestions include selling of Google Chrome and Android, or separating the ad business are all on the table.

The Verge reports that Alphabet has made a counteroffer. Clearly, the company does not want a splitting-up. The counteroffer does not include the splitting up of any company services or products.

Instead, Alphabet suggests the following remedies:

• Browser companies should get more flexibility and the ability to change default providers every 12 month period.
• Android device makers should also get more flexibility and options to preload any apps.

The first suggestion affects Mozilla and Apple for the most part. Both have search deals in place with Google that give them millions or billions each year for making Google Search the default search engine on their respective platforms.

With Google’s suggestions, Mozilla could sign search engine deals for different platforms. It might not be that beneficial to Mozilla, however, as there are not many search engine companies out there with the financial power to agree to deals.

In fact, Microsoft with its Bing search engine may be the only one that might be a potential partner.

To make matters worse, it may also give Google more of a bargaining chip when brokering deals with the organization.

For Android, device manufacturers would have more freedom to launch their devices with multiple search engines or apps. Google is enforcing certain rules right now, if device manufacturers want to include the company’s apps on their devices.

Closing Words

Google would retain control over all of its properties, if its proposed remedies would be found acceptable. Chrome or ads, for instance, are not even mentioned by Google.

What do you think of this? Should Alphabet be broken up? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Google Search has been the major search engine in most regions for a long time. While it has changed a lot under the hood in that time, it is still used by many as the main tool for searches.

AI is threatening Google’s search dominance. While it is too early to tell how good AI-based search engines will be in comparison, Google is clearly aware of the danger.

To counter this threat, Google has started to push AI into Google Search. The main user-facing feature is AI Overviews, which displays a summary based on a user’s search query at the very top of the search results.

It works similarly to how Brave Search and other search engines display AI-generated results at the top. Verdict is still out on the usefulness of the solution.

File uploads

Soon, Google users might also be able to upload files directly on Google Search to ask questions about the uploaded file. Upload a financial report, and you might ask questions about it once Google has processed the file.

This is not a new feature, considering that several AI solutions can do the same already. Even Google has a very basic file upload feature baked into search already. You can upload an image to Google Images to find out matching images online. While no AI is involved, it at least highlights that Google has the technology in place already.

X user Khushal Bherwani published an image and a short video that shows the new feature in action. It seems to work as one might expect: you activate the file upload button on Google Search, pick a file that you want analyzed, and hit the upload button.

It is likely only available for certain file types. The video shows that the feature is not complete at this point. The upload appears to have worked in the video, but Google Search did not answer the question that the user asked about the file.

Closing Words

It remains to be seen if the feature will roll out to more users in the coming months or if it gets pulled before release. There is also the question of its usefulness and whether users feel comfortable uploading files to Google.

What is your take on the feature? Would you upload files to Google to get the chance to ask an AI question about it? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Google could be forced to sell of the company’s Chrome web browser and be required to make changes to other company products and services, including Android and AI.

Bloomberg reports that Justice Department antitrust officials will ask a judge to force Alphabet Inc to make the changes. The same judge ruled in August that Google has monopolized the search market illegally.

Why Chrome? According to Bloomberg, Chrome is the entry point for many interactions with Google Search. It is the default search engine on Chrome and most users keep it that way. Chrome is also a powerful weapon for Google to understand what users are searching for and what they do on the Internet.

Lastly, Google is using Chrome to support or promote other products and services. AI will play a much bigger role in the future, and what better way than Chrome to get it in from of hundreds of million of Chrome users.

Google may also be forced to “uncouple its Android smartphone operating system from its other products”. This includes search and Google Play.

Bloomberg says that the government has options to remove Chrome from the deal if Google makes other changes that “create a more competitive market”.

The judge planned for a two-week hearing in April 2025 and a final verdict by August 2025. Google already said that it is going to appeal the verdict.

Closing Words

The forced sale of Chrome and some of the other changes would have a major impact on Google’s business. With Chrome sold, it might have to broker a deal with the company that acquired the browser to make Google Search the default search engine. Considering that it pays millions to Mozilla and billions to Apple for that, it would probably cost Google a lot to remain Chrome’s default search engine.

The final verdict is less than a year away, but that won’t be the end of it. Google will appeal, which means that it could years before anything comes out of it.

What is your take on this? Should Google be forced to sell Chrome or make changes to any of its other services or products?