LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined with 49 other AG’s in an antitrust investigation against Google.
According to an official press release, the investigation is meant to decide if Google uses anti-competitive tactics in its control of online advertising and search traffic.
“Google plays a critical role in our online economy as the biggest and most powerful advertising and search engine company in the country. It is illegal for a business to use its market power to engage in anticompetitive conduct specifically to protect its status as a virtual monopoly,” Nessel said in the press release. “Our personal data is the biggest commodity in today’s online economy. When a giant like Google makes 90 percent of its revenue from utilizing our personal data in its advertising business while undermining consumer choice, stifling innovation, violating our privacy, and controlling the flow and exchange of information, it is essential that we take a closer look. We will go where the facts lead us to both protect our consumers and to ensure a free and competitive market.”
The AG’s will join with federal investigators and antitrust enforcement officials in each state.
Google has previously been investigated for antitrust actions three times by the European Commission, however, none of these investigations addressed its massive market power.
