US antitrust lawyers are calling on a judge to force the sale of Google's Chrome browser to limit the company's market clout in a move that would shake up the internet giant.

On Wednesday, the US Department of Justice submitted its recommendation for the breakup to US District Court Judge Amit Mehta, who is set to impose steps next year to address Google's monopoly power in online search.

"This would be a huge gut punch to Google," said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives.

Google provides free search, making money off targeting ads and features that promote online commerce.

"It would greatly alter (Google's) business model," said Syracuse University professor of advertising Beth Egan.

Selling Chrome would also deprive Google of a rich source of information used to train its algorithms and promote its other services like Maps.

Launched in 2008, Chrome dominates the........

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