The attorneys general of the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and every US state except California and Alabama have officially opened an antitrust investigation into Google in the Alphabet, while US government officials are seeking control the technological giants of the country.
The investigation is being led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who said it would focus on "the search giant's overall control of the search traffic and online advertising markets." , which could have led to anti-competitive behavior harmful to consumers.” If this sounds familiar, it is that the EU has sentenced Google to a fine of 1,49 billion euros for blocking competing advertisers in the sector search online earlier this year.
In the announcement in Washington, the states that participated in the survey asked Google to provide documents about their advertising activities. Several attorneys general said the investigation was "preliminary" but hoped it would develop to cover other issues, including data confidentiality.
Meanwhile, a different group of eight attorneys general, chaired by New York, announced last week that it was starting its own investigation into Facebook.
Google antitrust probe
The basis of the antitrust investigation at Google is based on allegations that its search on the web would encourage consumers to use its products to the detriment of those of its competitors, which would have caused them to lose business. Complaints were also made about potentially anti-competitive behavior with respect to how the company manages the advertising component of its activities.
In 2013, the FTC concluded an investigation of Google, claiming that the company had not manipulated its search results to harm rivals. However, at the time, the company also agreed to end the practice of scratching in cases where it hijacked a competitor's content to use as its own.
Late last month, the Justice Department asked Google for information and documents about previous antitrust investigations conducted by the company. Alphabet said it cooperated with federal regulators as well as the state antitrust investigation.
The idea of breaking up the tech giants has gained popularity among US lawmakers who believe these companies have too much control over citizens' data and daily lives. The antitrust investigation into Google will likely take some time, but if it's successful, the US government could take it to Amazon, Apple, and other tech giants, since l & # 39; He had done it with Microsoft in 2001.
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Via Reuters