Report: FTC Is Poised to Pursue Antitrust Probe re Google's Web-Search Dominance
In a dawning probe that could eventually change the Internet landscape, the Federal Trade Commission is reportedly poised to begin an investigation of Google Inc.’s dominance over Web searches.
While it isn’t illegal to have a monopoly under United States antitrust law, only to abuse it, the FTC is about to serve subpoenas on Google to see if the company’s search-advertising business unfairly channels Internet users to its own clients, reports the Wall Street Journal, in an article that relies on unidentified sources.
Google reportedly handles about two-thirds of the search engine traffic in this country and an even higher percentage in Europe.
The company declined to comment, reports the San Jose Mercury News, which also has a story about the expected probe.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “As FTC Settles Google Buzz Privacy Case with Agreed Policy, Google Debuts New Search-Sharing Tool”
ABAJournal.com: “Antitrust Complaint Filed Against Google in South Korea”
New York Times: “Antitrust Cry From Microsoft”
