The U.S. Justice Department could sue Google within the next month, which could address the long-held issues that parent company Alphabet abuses its position at the forefront of digital advertising, Bloomberg wrote.
Lawyers with the DOJ antitrust division are reportedly questioning publishers to help get more facts about the complaint.
There have been reportedly some interviews already done, and more will come. They’ll also build on other interviews from earlier in the investigation.
The current investigation was started in 2020 and alleged that the company violates antitrust laws by dominating the online search market.
There could also be an ad tech complaint, which was reported to be in the works last year.
“Our advertising technologies help websites and apps fund their content, and enable small businesses to reach customers around the world,” said Google spokesperson Peter Schottenfels. “The enormous competition in online advertising has made online ads more relevant, reduced ad tech fees, and expanded options for publishers and advertisers.”
The Justice Department didn’t respond to a request for comment by PYMNTS.
Google and the other big tech firms have faced varying trials and lawsuits over the past few years as governments have tried to rein in their influence.
Read more: Bill Could Force Google to Break up Ad Business
PYMNTS wrote earlier in the year that Google might be forced to break up its ad business if a bill introduced in May becomes law.
Introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act will look at cutting down on conflicts of interest in the ad tech sector. The bill has bipartisan support, reports say.
The Wall Street Journal said the bill was one of the more aggressive pieces of legislation aimed at curbing the power of big tech firms, making it so any company that processes over $20 billion in digital ad transactions per year can’t be in more than one part of the digital ad ecosystem.
The law hasn’t passed yet, but it could impact Google, which has operations in every step of the online ad buying/selling processes.
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