Report: DOJ to File Antitrust Charges Against Google in the Coming Weeks

The New York Times claims in a new report that the Department of Justice has plans to file antitrust charges against Google within the coming weeks.

The New York Times reports that the Justice Department plans to bring an antitrust case against Google within the next few weeks after Attorney General William P. Barr reportedly overruled lawyers who said they needed more time to build a case against the tech giant.

The New York Times writes:

Justice Department officials told lawyers involved in the antitrust inquiry into Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, to wrap up their work by the end of September, according to three of the people. Most of the 40-odd lawyers who had been working on the investigation opposed the deadline. Some said they would not sign the complaint, and several of them left the case this summer.

Some argued this summer in a memo that ran hundreds of pages that they could bring a strong case but needed more time, according to people who described the document. Disagreement persisted among the team over how broad the complaint should be and what Google could do to resolve the problems the government uncovered. The lawyers viewed the deadline as arbitrary.

The Times goes on to add that this case has been under investigation for almost a year with dozens of Justice Department lawyers working in two groups, each overseeing a separate line of inquiry. The two main areas being investigated were Google’s dominance in search and the company’s control over the online advertising ecosystem.

Google has control over approximately 90 percent of web searches worldwide, many rivals have complained that Google extends its dominance by making its search and browsing tools defaults on phones running its Android operating system. Google also takes one-third of every dollar spent on online advertising.