Google antitrust investigation nearing completion, resulting in lawsuit

Friday June 26, 2020, Reuters reported that the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly completing its antitrust investigation into the giant of the Google research, according to three sources close to the case.

The DOJ has indeed asked companies that accuse Google of abusing its advertising influence to provide it with information support before the end of this month of June to build a complaint file against the technology company, although thereafter, this deadline may be extended.

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Please note that Google is currently the subject of several investigations by American attorneys general and by the United States House of Representatives, which is also conducting a separate investigation into GAFAs such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple.

Google would have abused its dominance on Android and in the advertising market

Although Google provides many free services like its search engine, its messaging service and others, it generates income thanks to the publicity. According to Reuters, a third of online advertising spend worldwide goes to Google, while in addition, Google owns 90% of the advertising market due to certain technological tools, such as Google Ad, which allows publishers to sell. space to insert display ads.

In addition to this influence on the advertising market, Google is also accused of abusing its dominance over its Android operating system, for smartphones. Platforms, like Yelp, do claim that Google favors its own products in search results.

A trial for unfair and deceptive practices in sight?

Faced with this situation, a source says that American attorneys general would consider prosecuting the company for invasion of privacy by using laws prohibiting unfair and deceptive practices. These laws can be interpreted in a sens wide and can result in heavy financial penalties, particularly if the number of charges is large.

For example, Arizona and New Mexico have already commenced proceedings in justice against Google this year for allegedly deceptive privacy practices, demanding $ 10,000 respectively for violating their national laws.

But Google advocates, like the tech trade group NetChoice at Washington, whose members include parent company Alphabet, says Google’s digital ad prices have dropped sharply over the past decade even as competition has intensified. It remains to be seen if and when the trial will be officially announced.