If the US Justice Department forces Google to sell its Chrome browser to remedy its search monopoly, Yahoo will be one of the companies in line looking to buy it. (The others include OpenAI and Perplexity.) In the meantime, the legacy search brand is developing a browser prototype. The company believes the browser could boost its search market share. And if it acquires Chrome, it estimates a jump to double digits from its current 3% share, since it believes that around 60% of search queries are done through web browsers, directly from the address bar. Buying the browser also means it cuts development time, which Yahoo Search General Manager Brian Provost believes takes six to nine months to develop its own.
Provost estimates the deal could cost tens of billions of dollars, but he believes that Yahoo's owner, Apollo Global Management, can help it secure funding. As The Verge pointed out, Apollo actually owns a browser brand, but Provost said it isn't an active browser. And you may know this brand, given it was embroiled in its own antitrust case. It's NetScape.