Google to be formally investigated over potential abuse of web dominance

Survey U.S. Federal Trade Commission's antitrust review the heart of Google search, commercial advertising, reports say

U.S. regulators are about to launch a formal investigation to determine whether Google has abused its dominant position in the Web, according to reports.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is days away from serving subpoenas on the Internet giant in what could be the largest survey to date company research companies, according with the Wall Street Journal. Google and the FTC declined to comment.

extensive research on Google has been discussed for months. Google has faced several probes of the competition in recent years, and already the subject of similar research in Europe. In U.S. surveys have so far been largely limited to examinations of mergers and acquisitions.

The research will examine the heart of Google search, commercial advertising, and the source of most revenue for Google. Google is about two-thirds of Internet searches in the U.S. (And about 90% in the UK) and according to critics unfairly use this area for their own growing network services.

last November, the European Commission has opened its own formal investigation into allegations that Google discrimination competing services in its search results and prevented some sites use Google ads competitors.

"This is a headache for Google, even if you ultimately prevail in court," said Professor Christopher Yoo University of Pennsylvania Law School. "Information U.S. and the EU share of research and often can be very effective double. "

• legal experts said the research could be similar to the scale of the massive competition of the probe from Microsoft, which began in 1991 and resulted in an agreement a decade later. Professor Joshua Wright George Mason Law School, said: "The research will be of comparable magnitude to that of Microsoft."
• But he says the chances of Google being convicted of driving competition, as Microsoft was, were much smaller. Wright said that for the U.S. to bring a case successful against Google, which will prove that the company was to the detriment of consumers. "As a foreigner, I would say it is much more obstacle for them in Google today than it was at the time with Microsoft," he said.

Yoo said: "The reality is that changes in U.S. antitrust laws have become much more difficult for the government to prevail."

He said Google is facing a higher risk in the case of the EU, but in any case, investigations were likely to have a profound impact on society.

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