The U.S. Department of Justice is looking to file an antitrust lawsuit against Google by the end of the month, the New York Times reported, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.
The Justice Department has been conducting an antitrust investigation focused on the company's search functionality and advertising. The company, which dominates around 90 percent of the world's internet-based search traffic, including online advertising, is now in the crosshairs of regulators spearheaded by 50 U.S. states. Justice officials have been establising an antitrust case against Google for months, The New York Times reported.
President Donald Trump and other Republicans are also aiming at hitting Google with an antitrust case, claiming the company and other tech giants discriminate against conservatives. Of the big four U.S. tech firms – the other three being Apple, Facebook, and Amazon – Google is the most likely candidate to be slapped with a federal inquiry, according to analysts.
The logic behind moving quickly to carry out the probe emphasizes an expectation among some antitrust authorities that the Trump administration wants retributive actions against the tech firms for their sway over customers and the general market markets to curry approval with the voters.
But some sectors are not comfortable with the hasty timeframe, which could evetually deal a heavy blow on a stock market propelled by the tech groups. Tech shares were jolted in a major offloading on Thursday.
Sources said that a complaint is expected to move forward this month, and possibly as late as the middle of next month, and could focus on two accusations.
A person with knowledge of the matter confirmed that some Justice Department lawyers have pushed to defer the filing of a lawsuit pending further documentation, while Attorney General William Barr is pressing the case.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, a group of state prosecutors and Justice Department officials may file antitrust cases that will focus on how Google takes advantage of its search dominance to suppress market competition.
