Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images
LONDON – Britain’s competition watchdog said on Tuesday it was opening a formal antitrust investigation into Google’s search and search advertising services.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it wants to assess whether Google has “strategic market status” (SMS) under the UK’s new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer (DMCC) Act.
The DMCC is a law aimed at preventing anti-competitive behavior in digital markets. Labeling a company as having an “SMS” would give the regulator the power to impose changes to prevent anti-competitive behaviour.
AlphabetGoogle was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said the regulator was examining Google’s dominance of the search market to ensure a “level playing field” – especially as artificial intelligence changes the way people search online.
“Our job is to ensure that people take full advantage of choice and innovation in search services and that they get a fair deal – for example in the way their data is collected and stored,” Cardell said.
“And for companies, whether they are a competing search engine, an advertiser or a news outlet, we want to ensure a level playing field for the success of all companies, large and small,” she added.
The CMA’s move follows an offer by the US Department of Justice to force Google to give up its Chrome browser. The DOJ filed to break up the internet giant after it found it held a monopoly on the search market.
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.