> I think Google is trying to protect itself from lawsuits
That is unlikely. Google breaks many privacy-related laws across the globe and deals with billions of euros of fines regularly. They have an unlimited wallet and couldn't care less about spending a few billions to extend their dominance over the Internet.
That's a logical fallacy - just because Google lost money in the past doesn't mean they want to lose money in the future. We don't know what Google's utility function was in the past, and certainly can't extrapolate to this case.
Google search prints a ridiculous amount of money. I think the lawsuit costs do pale in comparison to keeping their dominance. If Google is doing this voluntarily, they must see an upside that helps maintain that dominance.
I'll concede that we can't know for sure. But given their vast legal spendings and huge profit margins, i'd argue that whatever their strategy is, legal threats from BREIN is a drop in the ocean for them.
That is unlikely. Google breaks many privacy-related laws across the globe and deals with billions of euros of fines regularly. They have an unlimited wallet and couldn't care less about spending a few billions to extend their dominance over the Internet.