SAN FRANCISCO: The US Department of Justice is preparing an antitrust investigation of Internet titan Google, the Wall Street Journal.
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.
A new investigation would come as backlash grows against major tech companies that dominate key segments of the online economy.
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has argued that big firms such as Facebook, Google and Apple should be broken up through antitrust enforcement.
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 per cent to $6.7 billion on revenue that climbed 17 per cent to $36.3 billion.
The earnings took a hit from a European Commission fine that amounted to $1.7 billion at the end of March, according to the quarterly update.
Google’s lucrative advertising platform remained the largest revenue driver for Alphabet, delivering more than $30 billion in revenue, but costs rose sharply as well. — AFP
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