Apparently the U.S. Federal Trade Commission are to consider launching an investigation into Google’s dominance of the search engine market. Bloomberg are reporting that any decision upon this potential probe is to be delayed until the Justice Department has decided whether or not to challenge Google’s planned acquisition of ITA Software Inc.
At this time there are no definite facts available, with Bloomberg’s article based upon the anonymous testimony of two individuals. The timing is interesting though, this story coming within a week of the announcement that Microsoft had filed an antitrust complaint to the European Commission accusing Google of violating competition law. In Europe Google has around 95% of the search engine market and with developments like Google Plus One it is difficult to see that changing without some intervention of this kind.
In the US Google has around 75% of the market share, with Microsoft (through Bing and Yahoo!) accounting for around a quarter. Expect to see some developments in the coming months. In the meantime please visit the source of this article for further information.
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