SPRINGFIELD – The advertising and other business practices of tech giant Google will be under heavy scrutiny in the coming months as part of a bipartisan investigation led by 50 attorneys general, including Democrat Kwame Raoul of Illinois.
Raoul’s office announced the joint investigation in a news release this week, noting it will “determine whether the tech giant operates in violation of state and federal antitrust laws” and will be conducted in conjunction with federal authorities.
The investigation will focus on Google’s advertising practices, and whether its dominance in the advertising and search market constitutes “anticompetitive behavior that harms consumers,” according to a news release from Raoul’s office.
“I am committed to protecting consumers’ right to internet access that is free from anticompetitive behavior,” Raoul said in a statement. “This investigation aims to safeguard consumer choice, foster innovation, ensure online privacy, and maintain the free flow of online information.”
The probe will be led by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, of Texas, and the coalition includes bipartisan attorneys general from 48 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.
In a press release posted to Paxton’s public website, he said Google has become synonymous with the internet for most Americans and might have been acting to undermine consumer choice.
“There is nothing wrong with a business becoming the biggest game in town if it does so through free market competition, but we have seen evidence that Google’s business practices may have undermined consumer choice, stifled innovation, violated users’ privacy, and put Google in control of the flow and dissemination of online information,” he said in a statement. “We intend to closely follow the facts we discover in this case and proceed as necessary.”
