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Will Google be forced to sell Chrome, world's most popular web browser?

The US justice department is moving to make the Big Tech giant part with the browser over antitrust concerns and a decision from a federal judge might come in coming days, according to reports.

Chrome will be worth around $20 billion if it is ordered to be sold, reported Bloomberg news agency, which cited people in the know.

Google, owned by Alphabet Inc, reacted with alarm.

Its vice president of regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland claimed that the justice department continues to push a "radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case.”

Mulholland said the government is "putting its thumb on the scale in these ways would harm consumers, developers and American technological leadership at precisely the moment it is most needed.”

The US antitrust watchdogs and several American states have sued Google for dominating the search and online advertising markets.

Besides suggesting the sale, justice depatment will also ask that Google implements steps on artificial intelligence and Android, said the Bloomberg report.

If the sale and other demands are implemented, it would be the most far-reaching crackdown on a tech company in the US, two decades after the govenement's failed attempt to break up the other Big Tech giant, Microsoft.

With more than three billion monthly active users, Chrome enjoyed web browser market share of nearly 65 per cent as of October, according to the web traffic tracker Similarweb.

Google has recently introduced its AI-generated answers from its chatbot Gemini on its flagship search engine.

While there's no clear mention of how much money Chrome makes, it is an integral part of Google ecosystem, which generates nearly 56 per cent of its revenue from search advertising.

Together with its number one search engine, Chrome web browser, YouTube video platform and Android operating system for smartphones, Google is the undisputed leader in online traffic.

But over the past few years, Google has faced several accusations and court cases including some from the US government about its monopolistic practices.

The antitrust court case dates back years and a judge concluded this August that Google illegally monopolised the search market.