World

US Justice Department Preparing antitrust probe of Google

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the US Department of Justice is preparing an antitrust investigation of Internet titan Google. The effort will touch on web search and other parts of Google, the report said. The report comes amid discussion from politicians and the public about whether large technology companies should be broken up. Government pushback on Alphabet in search could hit at the core one of the most highly valued publicly traded companies in the world.

The Journal cited unnamed sources close to the matter as saying the department would look into Google practices related to web search and other businesses.

Justice Department officials share antitrust oversight with the Federal Trade Commission, which conducted a wide-ranging investigation of its own into Alphabet-owned Google that ended in 2013 with no action taken.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alphabet racked up $136.8 billion in revenue in 2018, with 85% of it coming from advertising. Google controls more than 70% of the search engine market, according to NetMarketShare.

Google has faced antitrust pressure in the past.

In 2013, Google said it would change some practices after it agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The FTC had been concerned that some of Google’s business practices could stifle competition.

In 2010, the company received an antitrust complaint from the European Commission regarding the ranking of shopping search results and ads, which resulted in Google being fined $2.7 billion in 2017, according to Alphabet’s latest annual report. In 2016, the EC complained about practices related to Google’s Android operating system, leading to a $5.1 billion charge in 2018.

Alphabet’s profit in the first three months of this year sagged under the weight of a hefty antitrust fine in the European Union. Alphabet said profit in the first quarter fell 29 percent to $6.7 billion on revenue that climbed 17 percent to $36.3 billion.

But Google continues to face pressure around the world from regulators, notably in Europe amid multiple investigations over alleged abuse of its dominance in internet search, advertising, and its mobile system.

Brussels accused Google of using the Android system’s dominance of smartphones and tablets to promote the use of its own Google search engine and Chrome browser and shut out rivals.

Recently, Google has also come under political pressure in the U.S.

President Trump has been critical of big tech, including accusing Google of political bias in its search results. In March, Trump tweeted accusations that Google’s YouTube and Twitter favored Democratic opponents over him and Republicans.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who announced her 2020 presidential candidacy in December, has pressed for breaking up tech companies like Google. In a widely read post published on Medium in March, Warren said she was interested in appointing regulators who would be interested in undoing what she called “anti-competitive mergers,” including Google’s DoubleClick, Nest, and Waze.

“Current antitrust laws empower federal regulators to break up mergers that reduce competition,” Warren wrote.

Google wouldn’t be the first U.S. technology company to face scrutiny from the Justice Department. That agency launched a major antitrust case against Microsoft in 1998 that led to several rules the company had to follow for years.

The Justice Department had no comment. Google didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

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