Yahoo is ready to buy Chrome browser if Google is forced to sell

Internet company Yahoo Inc.—backed by owner Apollo Global Management Inc.—would bid for the Chrome web browser if a federal court orders Google to divest it as a remedy for maintaining an illegal monopoly, a senior executive said.

Brian Provost, the general manager for Yahoo Search, testified Thursday during Google’s trial in Washington that his company estimates the browser would have a sale price in the tens of billions of dollars.

Chrome is “arguably the most important strategic player on the web,” Provost said. “We would be able to pursue it with Apollo.”

Provost testified as part of a three-week hearing in the Justice Department’s case against Alphabet Inc.’s Google to determine how to remedy the company’s monopoly in internet search. Judge Amit Mehta ruled last year that Google illegally monopolized the market and is contemplating a package of changes proposed by antitrust enforcers.

The Justice Department and a group of U.S. states have argued that Google should be forced to sell off its popular Chrome browser.

Yahoo was the leading search engine in the early 2000s before losing that position to Google. The company has changed hands several times; Apollo purchased it in 2021 from Verizon Communications Inc.

Since the Apollo takeover, Yahoo has been seeking to “revitalize” its search engine, and started building its own browser that remains in development, Provost said. The company has also considered buying a browser and became interested in purchasing Chrome as soon as the Justice Department’s proposal became public, he said.

Yahoo would likely have competition. OpenAI would also be interested in buying Chrome browser, the head of ChatGPT said during the trial on 22 April.

“Yes, we would, as would many other parties,” Nick Turley, OpenAI’s ChatGPT chief, said in response to a question about whether the company would seek to buy Google’s browser.

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