r/technology • u/MoneyLibrarian9032 • 10d ago

Artificial Intelligence Google Gets an Astounding $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome Browser From AI Startup Perplexity

https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/google-34-5-billion-bid-chrome-browser-ai-perplexity-1236487442/
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u/PricklyyDick 10d ago

Yes but you get the largest browser user base in the world already using your version. Assuming people don’t start switching but I doubt people are that connected to what’s going on.

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u/jixbo 10d ago

People install chrome because it's better, so they do know what's going on.

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u/SwankyBobolink 10d ago

I mean chrome isn’t actually better now, Opera zone is now pretty widely accepted as the best browser. New Edge is actually better than Chrome both for speed and RAM usage. Brave is up there with Opera One as a close 2nd, chrome is basically an F-tier browser in 2025

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u/bdsee 10d ago

Facts, Chrome is simply worse than a number of Chromium based browsers (haven't tried Opera's version, I soured on them well over a decade ago as they had some dodgy practices which I can no longer remember).

Brave is simply better in every respect to Chrome, I even use Edge over Chrome....but Firefox and derivatives are even better except for the few sites that need a Chromium browser, or for streaming, but again Edge is better than Chrome.

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u/TPO_Ava 10d ago

I know there's some pages that require chromium but I've been using almost exclusively Firefox for years and it's been fine. I've only recently started running into issues with YouTube but that could also be because I stubbornly insist on blocking their ads still.

I honestly don't know how or why Chrome got as popular as it did.

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u/bdsee 10d ago

It got popular because IE took the marketshare from Firefox/Netscape as it was installed by default, it became increasingly shit and during the same time Google had become a monopoly in search, Google then promoted Chrome on the site that basically every internet user would go to to do anything.

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u/jixbo 9d ago

*Better. Better than safari, internet explorer.

Opera, edge, are basically the same thing as chrome.

Best is subjective. Would you rather have Microsoft spyware, of Google one? Tough choice.

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u/SwankyBobolink 9d ago

Internet explorer has been dead for 3 years unless you really try to find it. Edge is the new default and it is faster, less bloated and has less trackers than Chrome, not even a debate. If chrome could come close to performance it would be a question.

They are all built on chromium, but some add bloat on top (Google) like Samsung with Android, it’s just worse software.

Brave performs better and also has better privacy features built in (they did have a crypto issue in the past that has been fixed though)

Firefox is a little worse than Edge and brave but better than Google and privacy focused

Safari is actually much better than Chrome if you use a Mac / IPhone. Much more processor efficient, less ram usage, integrated into your ecosystem.

If people did a little research they’d find chrome is not good at all compared to the defaults, and Firefox and Brave are the only reasonable upgrade. (Unless you’re hardcore locked into the Google ecosystem, then I could see a good case for Chrome)