“Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers” is the name of the latest Linux Foundation initiative. It can already count on support from Chrome-/Chromium founder Google, Meta, Microsoft and Opera.
Google is under fire from regulators and is said to be too dominant. One possible consequence is that it may have to turn its Chrome Web browser into a separate venture. However, Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers (which we will abbreviate to SBB) is a move to further open up the power source behind the browser, the Chromium project.
Google has already started letting Chromium run free
Executive Director at the Linux Foundation Jim Zemlin states that SBB provides with “much-needed funding and development support for open development of projects within the Chromium ecosystem.” More importantly, SBB will now allow for a “neutral space” to provide Chromium projects with code for general adoption. This should make it possible to develop Chrome, Edge, Opera, Brave, and many other browsers faster and with simultaneous feature adoption.
Although SBB represents a step toward Chromium’s autonomy, its corporatization is not new. In 2020, Google allowed external developers in for the first time after being the sole code provider to the open-source project for 12 years. CNET did explain at the time that distributing Chromium tech was advantageous to Google, regardless of whether it also advanced competing browsers. For example, Apple and Mozilla claimed that USB and Bluetooth cannot be trusted to access web browsers because of security concerns directly, but Google and its allies questioned this. The tug-of-war has resulted in the fact that Chromium-based browsers can typically connect to peripherals but not iOS devices.
Coalition still a sign of power
The formation of SBB gives Google a stronger argument that it has less market dominance than might appear. Nevertheless, Chrome is still the supreme browser, with a share that has actually increased to over 68 percent over the past year. Only Apple’s Safari (17 percent) reaches double digits, while smaller players like Microsoft Edge and Samsung Internet are Chromium-based.
Regulators will have to work hard to pinpoint Google’s true dominance in the browser market. What is certain, however, is that if the company wants to avoid a split, opening up with the help of the Linux Foundation is a smart move. Indeed, this moves the project into the same category as Kubernetes, which has blossomed from a birth within Google into an independent success story.
Also read: What is the Google Chrome Privacy Sandbox?