Google's Enemies Sharpen Complaints as DOJ Opens Antitrust Probe

Google's Enemies Sharpen Complaints as DOJ Opens Antitrust Probe

The looming U.S. antitrust investigation of Google is galvanizing as many as a dozen companies to gather their complaints, according to Bloomberg. They might consider bringing them to the Justice Department as the probe gets underway, according to people familiar with the matter.

Rivals and companies that depend on Google have long complained that the internet giant harms competition across markets. These companies, ranging from media to advertising technology firms, are now assembling evidence and ready to assist the Justice Department, one person with knowledge of the matter said, declining to name the companies.

The U.S. government is taking the extraordinary step of opening some of the nation’s most valuable companies to antitrust scrutiny after years of a hands-off approach. The shift comes with the decision by top antitrust enforcers to divide up scrutiny of some of Silicon Valley’s best-known names, sending shares of the companies tumbling.

The Justice Department is set to open an investigation of Google, while the Federal Trade Commission is taking responsibility for probes of Facebook and Amazon, according to people familiar with the matter. The Justice Department will also oversee scrutiny of Apple, according to one of the people. The House Judiciary Committee opened a separate bipartisan inquiry, with a focus on whether tech platforms are using their market power to harm competition.

Google, with a sprawling empire of businesses that could feasibly be targets, faces what could be a widespread and years-long investigation. The company is in the dark about the focus of the inquiry and hopes to learn more this week, according to another person familiar with the situation.

Google has a large or majority market share in several important industries including online advertising, internet browsers, mobile operating systems and email. The company argues the global nature of the internet means it doesn’t actually have the power that its critics say it does.

One area where U.S. investigators will likely look closely is Google’s role in the online advertising ecosystem. Google sells much of the online real estate available to advertisers. It also controls the system that many advertisers use to place and track ads on non-Google websites through its DoubleClick unit.