The US Department of Justice appears to have been preparing an antitrust lawsuit against Google in recent weeks.
A monopoly investigation into Google was conducted six years ago by the Federal Trade Commission, but it did not result in any legal action against the company. Back in 2011, the FTC managed to fine the company $22.5 million in an antitrust case.
The potential antitrust case was first reported by the WSJ and later confirmed by other leading publications, such as The Washington Post.
It is known that the DOJ is working with the FTC to file a strong lawsuit against the company, but they did not say which products and practices of the company will be investigated.
However, it could challenge Google's dominance and near-monopoly in various areas, such as smartphone software, browsers, search engines, advertising, and more.
Google, like many other companies, uses certain products to collect a huge amount of data in order to use it for targeted advertising.
This practice by Google has at times annoyed many regulators and politicians, including 2020 congressional candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has openly agreed with the idea of imposing a tax on companies like Google.
Certainly, Google's monopoly cannot be questioned in certain areas, such as the recent withdrawal of the Android license from Huawei, which shook the entire existence of the smartphone manufacturer.
However, the tech giant is facing challenges in other regions outside the US. The European Union recently imposed a €9 billion fine on Google over its business practices related to AdSense, Search and the “Google” apps that come pre-installed on Android devices.
In India, the Competition Commission is also working on a case against the company for abusing its Android monopoly. A Google spokesperson said that it has actually managed to bring more affordable smartphones to the country and that Android has led to improved competition and innovation.
