- The US Department of Justice is expected to sue Google next week.
- The lawsuit is believed to have accused Google of penalizing search rivals.
- The department is also expected to study search engine advertising in Google’s search box.
Google has faced several legal challenges related to its search and advertising business over the past several years, and it looks like the US will be next in line to target the company.
According to ReutersCiting three sources familiar with the matter, the US Department of Justice will file a lawsuit against Google as early as next week. It is believed that the department is also asking the attorneys general to sign the suit.
The lawsuit allegedly accuses Google of penalizing search competitors like Bing. In particular, it is alleged that Google is withholding “the data about users and user preferences” from competitors that these competitors need to improve their services and advertising.
According to Reuters, the Justice Department is also focusing on search advertising that appears under Google’s search box, noting that Google controls those search boxes and their tools.
Recent actions against Google
This wouldn’t be the first time Google has come under fire for its search and advertising practices, as the European Commission fined Google € 1.49 billion (~ $ 1.7 billion) last year for abuse from online advertising.
The EU found that Google had prevented competing search advertisers such as Bing and Yahoo from showing ads on publishers’ search pages. The EU also noted that publishers must obtain written approval from Google before they can make visual changes to competing ads.
Google was fined nearly $ 5 billion by the EU in 2018 for abusing its dominant position in the Android space. The EU has had an issue with Google that requires Android OEMs to bundle the Chrome browser and Google Search app if they want to install Google Play Services on their devices. The European Commission also said Google had encouraged some manufacturers and operators to pre-install Google Search only, and it had prevented partner OEMs from releasing devices with a split version of Android.
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