this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2024
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758
DOJ indicates it’s considering Google breakup following monopoly ruling (www.cnbc.com)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Any guesses on how this would affect Android and Firefox?

I'm not 100% on how the Android business works so I'm not sure how important Goggle's involvement is.

Firefox relies on Google's 'default search engine' bribe quite a lot, and they might not be able to offer that anymore(?)

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 month ago

Android has been largely gutted and depends more and more on google play services, with few exceptions like some AOSP-based roms like lineageos, iodeOS, etc

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago

in In my opinion, it's likely that nothing will change. If this ever happens, Google might setup an "Android Alliance" with other OEMs which will reach agreements to keep Android as is but for the USA lawmakers and such it'll seem like everything has changed.

For Firefox, I believe Google will keep injecting money in Mozilla as long as it keeps them from having Chrome being targeted on an antitrust/competitive lawsuit or ruling.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Haha. OG conspiracy theory time! I was gonna say this breakup will never happen, but I could totally see it being a plutocratic quid pro quo to split Android from Google and set up an entirely new entity to start charging for the OS or closing it off as a pixel exclusive — something Google couldn't do without major backlash and probably lawsuits, unless the government "forced" their hand and compelled them. The controlling shareholders would remain the same, and the government would get to act like it's taking legitimate action, fighting for the working class, against monopolies.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I think Android is big enough to be immediately forked. There's many existing forks already, if they tried to take it private many companies would be invested in a new "Android core" being developed upstream - it's one of the few situations where open source can work, because businesses would throw money at an org that keeps them competitive

But I'll be hopeful but pessimistic about a Google breakup. It would be huge, it would be real change

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Maybe that's why they're introducing ads. 🙄

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Mozilla is definitely trying to diversify their income to not depend on Google, but let us not forget that despite Firefox's user share declining, their AI and ad friendly CEO keeps getting raises

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Salary raise is a consequence of user share declining - it's to make him try harder. 🤸‍♂ 🕳

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I don't see why a breakup would mean a Firefox deal can't be done anymore. Unless the search engine business shut down, they would still be motivated to have a default search engine deal with browsers.

What might change, I think, could be:

  • Search engine may be way less motivated to have a deal with Firefox. FF has pretty low market share. One popular theory is that Google continues to subsidize FF partly to make it look like there is other viable browser competition and that they are helping foster it (for antitrust reasons). If search and browser were different companies - not being proposed I don't believe, but could happen in a breakup - this might lessen. Although apparently even 2-5% of the market is worth billions so I could see it easily continuing. Especially if signs are that other browsers start losing some share.
  • Less money to FF: If the ads biz does become less lucrative, that'd flow downstream to deals like the one with Mozilla.

But I don't see any reason why they "wouldn't be able" to have a deal anymore.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

But I don’t see any reason why they “wouldn’t be able” to have a deal anymore.

It's this part of the article that stuck out to me:

the DOJ suggested limiting or prohibiting default agreements and “other revenue-sharing arrangements related to search and search-related products.” That would include Google’s search position agreements with Apple’s iPhone and Samsung devices — deals that cost the company billions of dollars a year in payouts. The agency suggested one way to do this is requiring a “choice screen,” which could allow users to pick from other search engines.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Wow, I totally missed that part. That would be a potentially different story.