Google facing antitrust investigations

Google has found itself at the centre of multiple government investigations into whether it is using its dominance in search advertising to scotch competition.

At least three state attorney generals have started antitrust investigations into Google, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday.

The source declined to elaborate on the details of the investigations by the attorneys general of California, Ohio and New York as they were still in the early stages.

The attorneys general investigation into Google was first reported by the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the investigations.

The news of the attorneys general investigation emerged on the same day the Wall Street Journal reported that the internet search giant is about to receive the civil equivalent of a subpoena from the US Federal Trade Commission as part of a probe into the company's Internet search business.

The company has been accused by competitors of favouring its own services over rivals in its search results.

Google and the FTC declined to comment on the Journal report.

The FTC plans to send the civil investigative demand with a request for more information, the civil equivalent of a subpoena, within five days, according to the report.

US antitrust regulators have been concerned about Google's dominance of the web search industry, and it has been under investigation by the European Commission since last November.

Complaints has been filed with regulators on both sides of the Atlantic, many from Google rivals who specialise in vertical searches like price comparison websites, which are widely seen as a threat to Google's position as a key gateway to online information.

Google has been in a stock slump. The company's shares began the year a touch above $600, but are now below $500. Google shares closed at $480.2 yesterday on the Nasdaq.

Google has weathered other antitrust setbacks. The company walked away from a search deal with Yahoo in 2008 when the Justice Department signaled it was prepared to challenge it.

A New York judge has said that a deal Google had made with publishers and authors to create a massive digital library was illegal, partially because it effectively gave Google the rights to books that are in copyright but whose authors cannot be found.

Reuters