Mozilla has warned that the Justice Department’s proposed breakup of Google could harm independent web browsers, pushing back against a key element of the government’s antitrust remedy.
The maker of Firefox browser said in a statement the DOJ’s blanket ban on search revenue-sharing deals would disproportionately impact smaller players that rely on such agreements, while failing to meaningfully increase competition in search.
Firefox and similar browsers account for a small share of US search queries but provide crucial alternatives for privacy-conscious consumers, Mozilla said. The DOJ’s wide-ranging proposal, submitted to a federal court in Washington, includes forcing Google to sell its Chrome browser and prohibiting the company from paying other firms to set Google as their default search engine.
The plan follows an August ruling that found Google illegally monopolized the search market. In a statement, Mozilla argued that rather than an outright prohibition on search agreements, remedies should focus on “addressing the barriers to competition and facilitating a marketplace that promotes competition and consumer choice.”
