If a judge agrees with the U.S. Department of Justice's proposal to force Alphabet Inc. to sell its Chrome browser business, the sale could be valued at as much as $20 billion, representing a significant and historic blow to the global tech giant.

Mandeep Singh, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, stated that if the sale proceeds, the business could be valued at "at least $15-20 billion," given that Chrome has more than 3 billion monthly active users.

On Monday evening Eastern Time, Bloomberg reported that antitrust officials from the Justice Department plan to recommend that Amit Mehta, the federal judge who ruled in August that Google unlawfully monopolized the search market, mandate the sale of Chrome. Additionally, antitrust officials are seeking to propose data licensing requirements and remedies related to artificial intelligence (AI) and the Android smartphone operating system to curb Google’s dominance.

This would not only mark a historic blow to Google but also signify the most aggressive action taken by the U.S. government against a tech company since the failed attempt to break up Microsoft two decades ago.

According to web traffic analysis service StatCounter, Chrome holds approximately 61% of the U.S. browser market share and is the most widely used browser globally. Owning Chrome is crucial to Google's advertising business, as it enables the company to track logged-in users' activities and use this data to more effectively target ads, which constitute the majority of Google's revenue. Google also uses the Chrome browser to steer users toward its flagship AI product, Gemini.

Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s Vice President for Regulatory Affairs, stated that the Justice Department "continues to pursue an aggressive agenda that goes far beyond the scope of the case’s legal issues." She added, "Regulating in this manner will ultimately harm consumers, developers, and America's tech leadership when it is needed most."

The Department of Justice declined to comment.

Google’s stock showed little change on Tuesday, closing on Monday at $176.80 per share, marking a 25% increase so far this year.

Sources indicated that antitrust authorities hope the judge will order Google to sell Chrome, the world’s most widely used browser, as it serves as a critical gateway for many users to access the search engine.

In preparation for this proposal, U.S. government prosecutors have met with dozens of companies over the past three months. Sources mentioned that states are still considering adding proposals, and certain details may change.

In its latest financial report released at the end of last month, Google’s advertising revenue for the third quarter was approximately $65.85 billion, representing 74.6% of Alphabet’s total revenue for the period. Of that, revenue from Google search and other services reached $49.39 billion, accounting for 75% of its ad revenue.

Revenue from Google Search has seen two consecutive quarters of slowing growth, indicating challenges in Google’s advertising business. Market research firm eMarketer predicts that due to increasing competition from rivals like Amazon, Google’s share of the search ad market will fall to below 50% next year.

However, selling Chrome might be considered a relatively less severe penalty. According to Bloomberg’s report on Monday, antitrust officials previously considered forcing Google to sell the Android system.

Following Monday's revelation of the Justice Department’s push for the sale of Chrome, Google’s Vice President for Regulatory Affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, stated in a statement: "The Justice Department continues to pursue an aggressive agenda that goes far beyond the scope of this case’s legal issues. Such government intervention will harm consumers, developers, and U.S. technological leadership at a time when it is needed most."

The Justice Department declined to comment on media requests regarding the report.

On Tuesday, Alphabet’s stock initially fell by nearly 1% but recovered, turning positive in early trading and rising 1.7% at midday to reach a new intraday high.

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