Whats weird is that nobody has tried to sell browsers for a very long time. It's not like they gave away Chrome to drive some other browser out of the market.

They developed Chrome because their business was web based and they wanted a solid platform for their apps.

And we all benefited from that stable platform. And it's mostly open source in Chromium. And they are paying Mozilla to stay in the game - an arms length, independent implementation of standards.

I think its wrong to suggest what they should have done is build an entire walled garden like Apple has done.

Update: I think the important part of your statement was "too keep out competition." I don't see how developing and giving away Chrome is stifling the browser market.

I can see how paying other people to make Google search default might stifling the search market, but that has nothing to do with Chrome.