The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly preparing for an antitrust investigation against Google. Following the report, the tech giant’s parent company Alphabet lost more than -3% in stock price during pre-market trading Monday.
Citing sources familiar with the antitrust probe, The Wall Street Journal indicated that third-party critics of Google have been in touch with the Department regarding the issue. However, it is not clear as to whether the Department has contacted Google for the same.
If the report is indeed true, it would not be the first time for Google to have come under the scanner of a regulatory body for alleged monopolistic indiscretions.
In 2013, Google promised to tweak some of its business practices after agreeing to settle with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, following the latter’s concerns over Google’s policies threatening competition.
In 2017, the European Commission fined Google to the tune of $2.7 billion, after charging the company’s search engine of discriminating against rivals’ comparison shopping services in favour of its own price comparison services.
In March, the European Commission slapped a $1.7 billion fine on Google, for what the Commission deemed as anti-competitive online advertising strategy.
No official statement from either the DOJ or Alphabet/Google has come forth yet on the reported investigation.