Report: Feds, States Prepping Antitrust Lawsuits Against Google

TOPLINE

The Justice Department and a group of state attorneys general will likely file antitrust lawsuits against Google, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, escalating the threat of regulation, fines or possibly breaking up the company after criticism from lawmakers of both parties.

KEY FACTS

Crucial quote

 “We think Google has 7,000 data points on just about every human being alive,” Paxton told reporters Thursday, according to the Verge. “They control the buy-side [of online advertising], the sell-side and the market which we are concerned gives them way too much power.”

Key background

Google was previously the target of an antitrust investigation for its search engine practices in 2011, but the FTC found that the company did not violate antitrust statutes. If a case is brought against Google, it would be that largest antitrust action since the government’s case against Microsoft
MSFT
in the 1990s.

News peg

As Google, Facebook, Amazon
AMZN
and Apple
AAPL
grow in size, revenue and prominence, lawmakers and federal investigators are beginning to ask if they have made too many acquisitions, unfairly block out smaller companies in favor of their own services and ultimately harm consumers. The movement to regulate tech companies attracted support from both political parties last year. Democrat Elizabeth Warren made “breaking up Big Tech” a pillar of her campaign while Republicans in Congress have accused Google of being biased against conservatives in heated Congressional hearings.

Further reading

Big Tech’s Reckoning: Behind The Probes Of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google (Forbes)

Breaking Up Big Tech: Facebook, Google Now Face 4 Separate Antitrust Investigations (Forbes)