In August of this year (2024), The Justice Department won its antitrust case against Google, leading to a possible selloff of its Chrome browser. For marketers and SEO experts, this means an unclear future with both positive and negative impacts as a possibility. At this point, it’s impossible to accurately guess the exact outcome, but taking into consideration some potential scenarios can help us stay ahead of the curve.
So, here are few ways the Google breakup can affect SEO and content marketing:
The Changes Ahead Will Most Likely Mean More Complexity For SEO Experts And Marketing Managers
The most likely outcome of the Google breakup at this point, would be the splitting off of the Chrome browser, which by itself, isn’t a big issue. The underlying problem is that the Chrome browser runs on Google’s free, open source browser software, Chromium – along with almost every other browser alternative on the web including Microsoft’s Edge and Bing, Amazon’s Silk, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Opera, and Brave.
Because Chromium is open-source, it’s hard to know what Google will do with Chromium, but it could have a tremendous effect on search everywhere, shaking up not only browser SERPs pages, but search results on mobile apps and online shopping platforms as well. And this could mean some major but necessary strategy shifts for online marketers.
The Google Divestment May Mean A More Diverse Search Scape Due To More Competition
The point of any antitrust case is to break up a monopoly and encourage more competition in the marketplace. If Google is forced to divest its Chrome browser, we could actually see a rise of smaller tech companies in the field of internet search and new approaches and technologies with this increase in competition.
For SEO and content marketers, this would mean a more diverse search landscape with more search engines and algorithms to optimize for. And this would also mean more opportunities for paid search. The takeaway here is complexity. While more diversity in the search engine landscape means more opportunities, it also might mean much more labor and third-party ad costs to get the same results.
The Google Breakup May Lead To Substantial Algorithm Changes Affecting Current And Future Search Results
At minimum, we should expect some big shake ups in search algorithms – something that drives SEO experts crazy. Whatever is ahead for Google, it is likely that they will adjust their algorithms to be prepared for future divestment. So be prepared for changes and challenges on the way regardless of how slowly things play out.
And slow is the golden keyword here. The final judicial decision isn’t expected until August 2025, and it’s likely that Google will appeal. The team here at Blink;Tech likes to stay way ahead of the curve when it comes to big changes like this. We are always looking for opportunities to serve our clients better and when change scrambles things up a bit, the opportunities you find are the most meaningful of all.
If you have been trying to get a handle on your business’s marketing and find you need help, don’t hesitate to reach out. Our team of SEO and marketing experts are here to help!
