The case may be joined by state attorneys general in what would be one of the biggest antitrust actions by the United States since the late 1990s.
The Justice Department is planning to file antitrust charges against Google as early as this summer, said two people with knowledge of the situation, in what would be one of the biggest antitrust actions by the United States since the late 1990s.
The Justice Department is still investigating the internet company and has been making progress on its case, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details were confidential. The regulators are focused on Google’s dominance in the online advertising industry, and the case will also involve allegations that the company abused its dominant position in online search to harm competitors, the people said.
State attorneys general are likely to file their own antitrust lawsuit against Google or join the Justice Department case sometime this year, said a person with knowledge of the state investigation.
Taken together, such actions against Google, which controls around 90 percent of all web searches globally, would be one of the biggest antitrust cases in the United States since the 1990s when the Justice Department joined 20 states to sue Microsoft. The two sides reached a settlement in 2001.
The moves would also set a benchmark for how regulators and lawmakers proceed with investigations into other large tech companies such as Facebook and Amazon, which the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general and Congress are scrutinizing for their market power and corporate behavior. For nearly two decades, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple and others have grown with little regulation from American authorities, becoming gateways to internet search, advertising, online communications, digital entertainment and e-commerce.
