We’re a long way (I’m guessing multiple appeals and months, if not years) from Google having to divest itself of Chrome per antitrust regulations recommended by the Justice Department. And even if it happens, there’s a whole lot we don’t know: who will buy Chrome, whether there are other stipulations tied to the outcome, etc.

That said, the ramifications are potentially major, and advertisers working with Google products need to start getting their heads around a future in which Google and Chrome are separate entities.

I’ve worked with Google ads for nearly a decade, and after putting a lot of thought into this, here’s what I think we do (and don’t) need to plan for as things move forward.

1) Google.com will still be the dominant search engine

Even if Chrome ends up with a company that doesn’t use Google as the default search engine, I don’t see competitors like Bing or DuckDuckGo gobbling up a lot of market share. “Google” is synonymous with “online research,” which I believe will persist because it’s the largest, most sophisticated search engine around, with a huge competitive edge in data collected over the years.

We are starting to see user behavior change from a search perspective (more users are starting their searches on LLMs like ChatGPT and Perplexity), but Google has such a head start and so much more data that they’ll come up with a strategy to keep Gemini and/or its more traditional search engine (now featuring AI results!) on top of the heap.

2) Search performance could erode

Google’s massive competitive data edge would take a hit if the data collected by Chrome is owned by another entity. Google has leaned so hard into smart bidding and AI-driven targeting (whose effectiveness is fueled by that data) that its signal-based targeting, including retargeting, could be less effective if Chrome goes elsewhere. That data existing outside of Google’s walled garden could also make first-party data even more precious for advertisers who can’t simply trust bidding algos to work for them.

3) DSPs, CDPs, and CRMs stand to benefit

Assuming the point above comes to pass, and assuming that at some point, Google will stop collecting data (either through ultimate third-party cookie erosion or Chrome divestment), I see other segments in martech becoming more prominent.

One is CDPs, or customer data platforms, which can help brands move to a strategy of collecting their own data on the server side instead of relying on browser tracking (which is becoming shaky anyway, even if Google’s clinging to third-party cookies).

Another is CRMs, like HubSpot and Salesforce. They’ve always been critical for sales and marketing ops, but if Google’s audience segments become less reliable, good, clean CRM setups can help advertisers set up their own targeting segments and lookalikes.

Last, if Google’s search performance erodes (note: YouTube and the Google Display Network shouldn’t be affected here), I can see advertisers turning to more programmatic options and more heavily investing in DSPs, which are platform-agnostic and have access to a huge swath of placements and targeting options.

4) The future is either very good or very bad for TikTok

Speaking of regulation, if TikTok can dodge a bullet and somehow get out of an impending U.S. ban, it stands to be a huge beneficiary of any erosion of user or advertiser activity on Google.

Judging from the swell of interest across my client accounts, TikTok Search (now with ads!) is big and getting bigger, even with the platform’s future in doubt. TikTok’s search is different than Google’s; it crawls the content of the creative itself and uses that data to make content to search queries. I can see that kind of tech really taking off – and Google even trying to develop tech to mimic it.

My biggest overall recommendation for coping with what’s coming is to be voracious about consuming updates from trusted sources. At this point, nobody truly knows what’s coming, so being on the leading edge of information and keeping your strategy nimble is the name of the game. Rest assured that Google is already investing in solutions for every scenario, so we have to be ready to adapt for more than the fallout – we have to do our best to see two steps ahead.