Maybe Yahoo Buying Chrome Isn’t as Crazy as It Sounds

The U.S. Department of Justice is still determined to force Google into selling off Chrome and Android. The judge overseeing the latest antitrust case hasn’t given many hints, but a handful of politicians argue that splitting up Google would be the right punishment for its financial misconduct. (Editor’s note: Are these technically crimes? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.)

Personally, I doubt this will ever happen. My dad used to say, "It’s fine to wish for things," and a part of me would love to see Google work harder and stop playing dirty. But the rational side of me knows no other company could keep something like Android or Chrome alive without slipping into equally shady practices. Honestly, it’s a good thing I’m not in charge of anything.

To make this entire situation even more bizarre, Yahoo! (yes, that Yahoo — don't laugh yet) has thrown its hat into the ring, saying it would be interested in buying Chrome if Google is forced to sell. I'll give you a second to stop chuckling.

Yahoo, once a tech titan, is now basically a faded relic of its former self — a company that once held the kind of dominance over the web that Google enjoys today. It had massive market share, rabid investors, eager partners, and what seemed like unlimited potential. And we all saw how that turned out.

Today, Yahoo is a ghost of what it once was, and even its executives know it. One key reason (in their view) for this decline? They lack a true first-party web browser. (Technically, Yahoo’s parent company, Apollo Global Management, does own Netscape — yeah, that Netscape — but that barely counts these days.)

Surprisingly, Yahoo’s argument actually makes a lot of sense — even if you don't realize it at first.

Think about how people use the web:

You open a browser, go to Google.com, and type your search into the box in the middle of the screen. Millions do this every hour.

Or — in most modern browsers — you just type your search directly into the address bar.

Either way, the experience is seamless and convenient.

Yahoo knows how crucial this is. Reportedly, they’re already developing their own browser, and I’d bet money it’ll be Chromium-based (just like nearly every other browser these days). Hopefully, Yahoo won’t waste time trying to reinvent the wheel.

Is this a good or bad idea? I'd answer that with another question: Why not both?

Apollo Global Management owns a strange mix of companies, from Norwegian Cruise Line to cloud and hosting giant Rackspace. They certainly have enough financial muscle to keep a project like Chrome running.

Of course, ownership would likely reshape Chrome’s future to suit Apollo’s broader interests — and if Chrome ends up under their umbrella, we should expect some changes.

This circles back to the deeper issue:

The companies that shouldn’t have so much control over the web — Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Google — are the only ones wealthy enough to fund sprawling projects like Chrome year after year.

Meanwhile, the companies that should be leading — Mozilla, DuckDuckGo, etc. — simply can’t afford to play at that scale. Don’t even get me started on companies like Plex or OpenAI, which already have more influence than a TV remote should allow.

Watching Google monopolize Chrome has been bad enough. Watching Yahoo step in might be even stranger — but in some ways, it’s preferable to even worse alternatives.

Yahoo needs Chrome. But it doesn’t need to drag Google along with it.

Google needs Chrome — for profit, yes, but also because keeping Chrome dominant suppresses competition.

And we need Chrome — but we definitely don’t need it hardwired into any one company’s search engine.

Honestly, I don’t know how this will end. And like I said, I seriously doubt any American judge will ever force an American company to sell off American assets — especially not in the current political and economic climate. (Yes, I know the U.S. is part of a bigger world — but you get what I mean.)

Still, it’s wild enough that Yahoo jumping into this mess is even worth thinking and talking about — at least for a few minutes.