A report by Reuters says the U.S. Justice Department is expected to sue Google as soon as next week. The DOJ is reportedly currently urging state attorneys general to sign onto the lawsuit, the report cites three sources familiar with the matter.
According to the report, the lawsuit is expected to see Google the DOJ level some allegations against Google over its search engine dominance. The search engine is alleged to be looking to put rival search engines such as Microsoft’s Bing in a disadvantaged position by withholding data concerning users from its rivals. Google also has exclusive access to user preferences that they deploy to improve their adverts.
The US Department of Justice has also had its eyes on Google’s “search advertising,” the ads that get featured under a search box if a person searches for a consumer item such as a “dishwasher.” Google has sold control over this as space and even provides the tools to make those ad.
Google has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and the Justice Department has declined to comment. But according to the sources, State attorneys general are also considering whether to sign on to the federal lawsuit. A good number of them already have running investigations of several other Google businesses.
It could be recalled that the European Commission slapped Google with a €1.49 billion fine just last year for trying to kill competitors while increasing its dominance in search ads by limiting the use of rival search engines.
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