A coalition of states is finishing an antitrust lawsuit against Google focused on its power in the online search market that could be filed as soon as Thursday, two people close to the probe said.
The complaint — led by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, and Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, a Republican — is expected to allege that Google has altered the designs of its search engine to the disadvantage of rivals that offer specialized search results, two other people close to the investigation said.
That differs from the antitrust suit that the Justice Department filed against Google in October, with support from 11 Republican state attorneys general. That complaint focused more narrowly on the exclusive contracts the company has signed with Apple, Mozilla and manufacturers of Android-powered smartphones to set Google as the default search engine on their browsers and mobile devices. (California has since asked to join that suit.)
The Justice Department suit has led a burst of antitrust cases against some of Silicon Valley’s most titanic companies, including a suit that the Federal Trade Commission and dozens of states filed last week seeking a breakup of Facebook. Future state- and DOJ-led lawsuits targeting other aspects of Google’s ad-driven business are expected in the coming weeks and months. The DOJ is also probing Apple, and the FTC has been investigating Amazon, though those cases are in earlier stages.
The states pursuing the new Google suit expect to file it in the same federal court in Washington, D.C., as the Justice Department case, where the two can be consolidated. The judge in the DOJ suit, Amit Mehta, has scheduled a hearing for Friday to discuss the case schedule.
The people familiar with the new case could not say how many states will sign onto this complaint, but the original investigation unveiled in September 2019 featured Washington, D.C., plus Puerto Rico and 48 states — all but Alabama and California. Some of the states that signed onto the Justice Department’s case may also opt to join the multi-state suit because it includes the new allegations on specialized search.
Companies with specialized search results, sometimes referred to “vertical search,” include online retailers like Amazon; Tripadvisor, which offers hotel, restaurant and sightseeing information and traveler reviews; and Yelp and Angie’s List, leading providers of local business reviews. Those businesses have long criticized Google, alleging the search giant has placed a priority on its own products in search results that pushes them further down the page. As a result, the companies say, they must either accept the lower placement and sacrifice traffic, or buy ads from Google to appear at the top of the page.
The company has said it plans to contest the DOJ suit. In a blog post after the Justice Department’s case was filed, Kent Walker, Google’s senior vice president for legal affairs, called the suit “deeply flawed” and said it won’t help consumers.
“People use Google because they choose to, not because they're forced to, or because they can't find alternatives,” he said.
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December 16, 2020 at 07:58AM
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States close to filing new Google antitrust suit - POLITICO
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