Google facing new US antitrust investigation led by more than 30 US state attorneys general

New antitrust investigation into Google expected to be launched on Monday

More than 30 US state attorneys general are set to unveil an investigation into Google over possible antitrust violations, according to Reuters.

The group of attorneys general, led by the state of Texas, is expected to announce the probe on Monday next week, the report claimed, citing three people familiar with the matter.

So far, it remains unclear whether they also plan additional probes into other leading internet companies, such as Facebook and Amazon, which face similar antitrust scrutiny in the US.

Google said that it was cooperating with state officials on the matter.

"We continue to work constructively with regulators, including attorneys general, in answering questions about our business and the dynamic technology sector", Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda told Reuters in a statement.

In recent years, regulators in the US and other countries have grown increasingly suspicious of the power and market dominance enjoyed by major internet companies.

Earlier this summer, a small group of state law officials met with Makan Delrahim, head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division to talk about competition issues in the tech industry. The officials argued that big tech firms in the US have gathered so much user data that it is hard for any new firm to compete with them.

States such as Mississippi and Louisiana have openly criticised Google for its handling of users' data and the company's algorithms for presenting search results.

Texas state officials have also raised similar concerns over censorship of conservative viewpoints due to political bias at Google.

US regulators have looked into Google's activities before. In 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concluded in its investigation that Google had not violated antitrust laws. The investigation was started after a number of companies accused Google of favouring its own web properties in its search results.

Nevertheless, Google and other internet companies have faced intensifying scrutiny.

In June, House Democrats announced an investigation into internet companies to probe whether they were engaged in "anti-competitive" practices.

In July, the US Justice Department announced an antitrust probe targeting leading internet companies, specifically Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon. The department said that the investigation will explore "widespread concerns that consumers, businesses, and entrepreneurs have expressed about search, social media, and some retail services online".

Also in July, several members of Congress questioned representatives of major tech firms at an antitrust hearing in the House Judiciary Committee. Representatives of Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon were questioned about the size and scope of their operations, and all claimed that their companies operated in highly competitive markets.

Google also faces antitrust scrutiny by regulators in the European Union. In March, the European Commission imposed a fine of €1.49 billion on Google over what it claimed were "abusive" online ad practices. In its ruling, the Commission said that the search giant had misused its dominance to restrict competitors from placing their search ads on third-party websites.

And last month, 23 job listing websites filed a complaint with European antitrust regulators, accusing Google of using its market dominance to favour its job search unit. In its letter, the group urged the EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager to take action against Google's job search unit and to order the company to stop operating unlawfully until the competition commissioner's investigation is completed.