Google has numerous products that it’s not surprising to ascertain it trying to attach the dots across its different properties, like Android, Search, and Chrome. However, what may sound natural isn’t always desirable or maybe legal in some cases, especially when businesses are involved. That’s why the corporate has been embroiled in numerous monopoly and antitrust lawsuits, and its latest spate of latest features exclusive to Chrome could eventually land it in a predicament once more.
If you’re an Android or Chrome user, most of the time, you’re also using other Google services, especially Search. Under the pretext of creating it easier for its users, Google has always attempted to bundle these services together, like how Google apps are preinstalled on most Android phones or how Chrome integrates perfectly with Search. Google’s rivals, however, beg to differ and see it as how for Google to monopolize those markets.
That hasn’t stopped Google from still trying anyway. It just announced yet one more integration between its Chrome browser and Google Drive that, on its own, looks pretty harmless. Building on an announcement in 2019, Google shows suggestions to Drive files in Chrome’s New Tab Page. The thought is to “save the user time and mental load to navigate to relevant files,” as long as those files are on Google Drive.
This, however, is simply the newest during a series of latest features, both official and still in testing, that put Google’s other services and products at the forefront of the Chrome browser experience. Google just announced the mixing of Lens and more Search features into Chrome on desktop and mobile. There are even clues that Chrome would soon offer an inquiry side panel as an incentive to use Search with Chrome instead of other search engines.
The Chrome and Drive integration will even be enabled by default for all users, including Google Workspace customers and those with personal Google accounts. While convenient for several users, rival companies and regulators will argue that Chrome as an internet browser shouldn’t be intricately tied to Google’s other products or a minimum of offer equivalent access to rivals like Dropbox, Bing, and therefore the like.
