Google Inc’s dominance of the Internet-search industry is being considered for a broad antitrust investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission, two people familiar with the matter said.
Before proceeding with any probe, the FTC is awaiting a decision by the Justice Department on whether it will challenge Google’s planned acquisition of ITA Software Inc as a threat to competition in the travel-information search business, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is still confidential.
An FTC probe of Google, the world’s most popular search engine, “could be on par” with the scope of the Justice Department’s probe of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) a decade ago, said Keith Hylton, an antitrust law professor at Boston University School of Law. Google “could fight the FTC, but that’s going to cost a lot of money and time.”
The FTC and Justice Department share responsibility for oversight of antitrust enforcement, and the outcome of the ITA deal may determine whether the two agencies will vie for control of a broader probe of Google, the people said. The two agencies sometimes negotiate, which will handle major antitrust investigations, with the decision turning on their respective expertise.
The Justice Department may soon announce its decision on Google’s purchase of ITA, they said.
Commissioner’s Support
FTC Commissioner Thomas Rosch said in an interview last month he supported a probe of the dominant players in the Internet-search industry, without specifying which companies. Rosch, one of two Republicans on the five-member commission, is the only commissioner to say publicly that such an investigation is in order.
The people concerned with the matter said any investigation of the search industry should concentrate on Mountain View, California-based Google, owner of the world’s most popular search engine.
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If consumers don’t like what the company is doing, they can switch to another search engine, said Adam Kovacevich, a Google spokesman.
“Since competition is one click away on the Internet, we work hard to put our users’ interests first and give them the best, most relevant answers to their queries,” he said in an e- mail. “We built Google for users, not websites.”
Google is facing growing scrutiny from regulators as it bolsters its search business. Officials in Texas and the European Commission have started investigations into Google’s search dominance, while Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is considering such a probe.
“An investigation is long overdue,” said Gary Reback, an antitrust lawyer with Carr & Ferrell LLP in Menlo Park, California who represents companies that have complained about Google to regulators here and in Europe. “Every day there are companies who are being hurt by Google’s anticompetitive behaviour and we still have arm wrestling going on in Washington,” he said in an interview yesterday.
The FTC gained knowledge of Google’s inner workings during its review of the company’s $750 million purchase of AdMob Inc. The agency approved that acquisition last year.