Editor's Note: This article is from "Tencent Technology", reviewer Cheng Xi. 36 Krypton reprinted with permission.
An investigative panel of more than 30 attorneys general is scheduled to announce the launch of an antitrust investigation into Google on Sept. 9, with the attorney general of Texas serving as the head of the investigative panel.
U.S. Internet giant Google Inc. has previously been subjected to antitrust investigations by the European Commission and the U.S. government, and suffered billions of dollars in large fines. According to the latest news from foreign media, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday that the attorneys general of more than 30 U.S. states are preparing to launch an investigation into Google's possible violation of U.S. antitrust laws.
According to foreign media reports, the source said, by more than 30 attorneys general composed of an investigative team is scheduled to announce the launch of the antitrust investigation of Google on September 9, in which the attorney general of Texas as the head of the investigative team.
Google said in response that it was working with officials in various U.S. states.
Google representative Jose Castaneda said, "We will continue to work constructively with regulators, including the attorney general, to answer questions about our business and the technology industry."
The source said the U.S. states' antitrust investigations against Google are focused on the intersection of personal privacy protection and antitrust. The source did not elaborate.
In June, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton joined 42 other state officials in filing an opinion urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to focus on privacy and data collection when investigating possible antitrust violations.
In their comments, California officials argued that large tech companies have so much user data that it's hard for newcomers to compete with them.
Another Texas official, Assistant Attorney General Jeff Matt, said during a Federal Trade Commission hearing in June that Google and other large airliners engaged in misinformation when they labeled themselves neutral.
These U.S. tech giants, one of the richest and most powerful groups of companies in the world, are facing increasing antitrust scrutiny from the U.S. Congress, federal government agencies and now state attorneys general.
The U.S. Department of Justice (Justice Department) said in July this year that it was launching a wide-ranging investigation into large digital technology companies, focusing on whether they had engaged in anti-competitive behavior. The investigation is believed to be targeting Google, Amazon and Facebook, as well as Apple.
In addition, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which also enforces antitrust laws, is investigating Amazon and Facebook to determine whether they have abused their enormous market influence in retail and social media, respectively.
It is well known that in the past in the European Commission, Google was subjected to a total of three antitrust investigations, Google Inc.'s Android operating system, network advertising alliance business, as well as web search services were unfair market competition behavior, harming competitors, Google was subjected to three huge fines, and was required to rectify the Android system and other products and services. Google made product adjustments and appealed the European Commission's ruling.
In some other countries and regions around the world (e.g., Russia), Google has been the subject of antitrust investigations and has been penalized with fines.
Google is the world's largest web search provider, occupying a monopolistic market share. In the field of smart phone operating systems, Google's Android occupies about 90% of the world's market share. And in the past few years, Google has started to enter more and more niche service areas and utilize the advantages of web search and Android for bundled marketing or promotion, which triggered the dissatisfaction of its competitors. In addition, like social networking giant Facebook, Google has broken one consumer privacy violation scandal after another, making it a key target of government antitrust investigations.
