DOJ Soon to Charge Google With Antitrust Violations

Sources have told the NY Times that the DOJ plans to file antitrust charges against Google as early as this summer. It will be one of the biggest antitrust actions since the late 1990s. State attorneys general are likely to join the suit or file their own charges. The Justice Department has been interviewing Google’s competitors in the areas of search, advertising technology and news publishing, seeking information about the company’s business practices, and last year, the states sent a civil investigative demand, asking Google to answer questions about its advertising technology business. Regulators are centering on Google’s dominance of online advertising, and allegations that the company abused its dominant position in online search to harm competitors. They are following Europe’s lead in taking action against tech giants. Regulators there have fined Google for unfair advertising rules and for abusing its power in the mobile phone market. The DOJ’s case will throw down a marker for acttions into Facebook and Amazon, which the FTC, some states and Congress are investigating.