LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s antitrust watchdog said on Tuesday it would investigate Google’s (GOOG) search services using its new powers to see how it affects consumers and businesses, including advertisers, news publishers and rival search engines.
When Closed: January 13 at 4:00:02 PM ET
The Competition and Markets Authority, which gained new powers to examine big tech, said research was vital to economic growth and it was important for competition to function well.
“Millions of people and businesses have relied on Google’s search and advertising services – with 90% of searches taking place on their platform and more than 200,000 UK businesses advertising there,” Sarah Cardell, head of the CMA, said in a statement.
“Our mission is to ensure people get the full benefit of choice and innovation in search services and get a fair deal.”
The CMA’s move comes after US prosecutors in November argued before a judge that Google must sell its Chrome browser, share data and search results with competitors, and take a host of other measures to end its monopoly in online search.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Paul Sandel and Muvija M; Editing by Sarah Young)
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