Google’s search empire faces an investigation under the UK’s new digital competition law

Google’s internet search empire has been targeted in a new investigation under the UK’s new internet antitrust law, officials announced on Tuesday.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, an antitrust watchdog, is investigating whether Google has “strategic market status” – a designation that could open the company to a crackdown under the country’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act, which entered into force this year.

“It is our job to ensure that people get the full benefit of choice and innovation in search services and get a fair deal – for example in how their data is collected and stored,” the chief executive said in a statement. of CMA, Sarah Cardell.

“And for businesses, whether you’re a rival search engine, an advertiser or a news organization, we want to make sure there’s a level playing field for all businesses, big and small, to succeed,” he added. Cardell.

UK officials will investigate “Google’s position in search and search advertising services and how it affects consumers and businesses, including advertisers, news publishers and rival search engines,” according to a press release.

The CMA noted that Google “accounts for more than 90% of all general search queries, and more than 200,000 UK advertisers use Google search advertising” and called search “vital to economic growth”.

Google is the first company to face an investigation into its “strategic market status” under UK law. The CMA has signaled it will investigate other companies in the coming weeks.

“People across the UK trust Google Search to help them find what they need,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement. “Google Search supports millions of UK businesses to grow by reaching customers in innovative ways.”

Google “will continue to engage constructively with the CMA to ensure that the new rules benefit all types of websites and still allow people in the UK to benefit from useful and advanced services,” the spokesperson added.

The investigation represents another headache for Google, which is under intense antitrust scrutiny in the US and Europe over its practices in online search, digital advertising and other elements of its business.

Last August, Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly over Internet search. He is scheduled to decide what tools he will implement to tackle the monopoly by this summer.

In November, the DOJ formally asked Mehta to consider forcing Google to order the sale of its Chrome web browser as one of several methods to break its grip on the market.

Elsewhere, Google faces a separate DOJ trial targeting its digital advertising empire.