The Justice Department and top state attorneys general are likely to file antitrust lawsuits against Google in the coming months, according to two people familiar with the matter, as regulators prepare to take more aggressive aim at the tech giant’s search-and-advertising empire.
The federal case could come as soon as the summer, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss a law-enforcement proceeding that had not been finalised. It is not clear if the Justice Department plans to file at the same time as state officials who also are probing the company. Their case against Google could be ready by autumn, one of the sources said.
The Justice Department declined to comment on Friday. Ken Paxton, attorney general of Texas, who is leading the state probe, said in a statement they had not been “slowed down by the coronavirus pandemic”.
“We hope to have the investigation wrapped up by [autumn],” Mr Paxton added. “If we determine that filing is merited we will go to court soon after that.”
In response, Google spokesperson Julie Tarallo McAlister said the company continues to engage with investigators.
“Our focus is firmly on providing services that help consumers, support thousands of businesses and enable increased choice and competition,” she said in a statement.
1/13 Flybe collapses
Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled – leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers.
The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: “Europe’s largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business.
AFP via Getty
2/13 Future product placement will be ‘tailored to individual viewers’
Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola
Paramount
3/13 Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday
In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company’s 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: “You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share”
4/13 No deal, no tariffs
The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers
Getty
5/13 Fingerprint payment
NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user’s fingerprint
NatWest/PA Wire
6/13 Mahabis bust
High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019
Mahabis
7/13 Costa Cola
Coca-Cola has paid £3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant
PA
8/13 RIP Payday Loans
A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain’s biggest, went into administration on August 30
PA
9/13 Musk irks investors and directors
Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks
Getty
10/13 Jaguar warning
Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a “bad” Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks
AFP/Getty
11/13 Spotif-IPO
Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn’t issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify’s private investors will be sold
AFP/Getty
12/13 French blue passports
The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rue’s contract ends in July.
The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process.
13/13 Beast from the east economic impact
The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airline’s estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.
1/13 Flybe collapses
Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled – leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers.
The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: “Europe’s largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business.
AFP via Getty
2/13 Future product placement will be ‘tailored to individual viewers’
Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola
Paramount
3/13 Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday
In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company’s 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: “You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share”
4/13 No deal, no tariffs
The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers
Getty
5/13 Fingerprint payment
NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user’s fingerprint
NatWest/PA Wire
6/13 Mahabis bust
High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019
Mahabis
7/13 Costa Cola
Coca-Cola has paid £3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant
PA
8/13 RIP Payday Loans
A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain’s biggest, went into administration on August 30
PA
9/13 Musk irks investors and directors
Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks
Getty
10/13 Jaguar warning
Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a “bad” Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks
AFP/Getty
11/13 Spotif-IPO
Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn’t issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify’s private investors will be sold
AFP/Getty
12/13 French blue passports
The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rue’s contract ends in July.
The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process.
13/13 Beast from the east economic impact
The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airline’s estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.
An antitrust lawsuit against Google would mark a dramatic reversal of fortune for the tech giant, more than seven years after state and federal officials found the company largely had not violated the country’s competition laws.
European regulators, in contrast, repeatedly have levied billions of dollars in fines, accusing the Silicon Valley tech giant of harming rivals in the search, advertising and smartphone businesses.
US investigators renewed their interest in Google last year as part of a wider-ranging inquiry into whether Silicon Valley businesses threatened competition and consumers. In September, the Justice Department made its first request for critical documents from Google in a probe that appeared to focus on Google’s advertising business.
Since then, Justice Department officials have expanded their inquiry to include Google’s dominant search engine, according to multiple people familiar with the agency’s efforts, though it is not clear what wrongdoing the government’s case may allege.
The probe at times has been acrimonious, with officials at one point privately signalling the US government could take Google to court if it is not quicker to produce critical evidence.
Nearly every state attorney general in the US has signed on to the antitrust investigation led by Mr Paxton, who announced the probe on the steps of the US Supreme Court. He pledged in an interview that everything – including penalties that could lead to the breakup of the company – would be “on the table”.
The Washington Post
