FTC may be on verge of launching Google probe

Apparently, the Federal Trade Commission appears to be in the early stage of a broad antitrust investigation of Google. Agency officials have begun contacting companies recently and signaled that the commission plans to launch a probe of whether Google is abusing its dominance in search and search advertising. The FTC indicated that it plans to issue civil investigative demands, common to subpoenas. The FTC's apparent decision to open a formal probe of Google intensifies the already heavy antitrust scrutiny of the Mountain View, Calif., search giant. The European Commission for months has been investigating claims that Google is using its monopoly on search in Europe to disadvantage rivals. Google controls more than 90 percent of the search and search advertising market in the European Union, compared with a roughly two-thirds share in the United States.