Summary
- Yahoo seeks to purchase Google Chrome as a savvy strategic move to get back into the game.
- The company has been developing its own browser but sees acquiring Chrome as a faster way to boost its market share.
- OpenAI and Perplexity have also expressed interest in buying Chrome.
Remember the legacy search brand, Yahoo? One way to jog your memory in case you don’t remember is to simply Google it, but it seems like the web services provider has other plans up its sleeve. Yahoo plans to acquire Google’s most prized possession.
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Yahoo wants back in the game, and Chrome might be its way in
Once upon a time, in addition to the iconic Yahoo Search, Yahoo ran a whole internet empire. It had multiple services under its own banner, including Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Answers, Yahoo Messenger, and more.
While a few of Yahoo’s services still exist, the vast majority, including Yahoo Messenger and Yahoo Answers, have shut down for good. Ultimately, while it’s no longer the tech giant it once was, it still exists and has been owned by Apollo Global Management since 2021 (after Verizon gave it up).
Now, the company is once again ramping up its efforts to revive what Yahoo once used to be. According to The Verge, Yahoo is willing to bid to purchase Google Chrome if the time comes. If you aren’t aware, a US judge, Amit P. Mehta, proposed the idea of breaking Google up and selling parts of its business, which includes Chrome and potentially Android as well, to dismantle Google’s monopoly.
Yahoo’s interest in purchasing Chrome isn’t surprising, though. The company has been working on its very own web browser prototype. The Verge mentions that “owning a web browser is a very important portal for search,” and the company plans to put that importance to use by either developing its own browser or purchasing one.
Yahoo’s Search Manager, Brian Provost, testified that “about 60% of search queries are done through a web browser,” and that in addition to developing its own prototype, the company is also actively in discussions with other companies about purchasing a browser. Unfortunately, he refused to disclose which companies.
In addition to the fact that Google Chrome is the leading web browser currently, Yahoo’s reasoning for wanting to acquire Chrome also has to do with time. Provost estimates that developing its own prototype would take between six to nine months, whereas acquiring Chrome would obviously be much quicker. He further mentioned that if Yahoo manages to buy Chrome, their market share could jump from 3 percent to double digits, despite the fact that the deal could cost billions of dollars.
Yahoo isn’t the only company interested in purchasing Google Chrome, though. According to Reuters, OpenAI, the owners of ChatGPT, testified in court that they would be interested in purchasing Chrome. Perplexity soon followed, mentioning that they believe they’d be able to run Chromium at the same scale as Google without affecting quality or charging users money for it.
Considering that I’m not ready to see what Google Chrome would look like if OpenAI ends up buying it, Yahoo suddenly feels like the safer, or at least less insane, option.
