‘U.S. Justice Department preparing antitrust inquiry of Google’

Probe will look into practices related to web search: report

FILE - In this Dec. 16, 2010 file photo, the Google logo is displayed in the company's New York office. Google is already facing spasms of suspicion and confusion as it tries to persuade people to entrust their personal documents, photos and other digital content to Google Drive, the company's new online storage service. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

The U.S. Department of Justice is preparing an antitrust investigation of Internet titan Google, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The Journal cited unnamed sources close to the matter as saying the department would look into Google practices related to web search and other businesses.

Justice department officials share antitrust oversight with the Federal Trade Commission, which conducted a wide-ranging investigation of its own into Alphabet-owned Google that ended in 2013 with no action taken.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A new investigation would come as backlash grows against major tech companies that dominate key segments of the online economy.

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has argued that big firms such as Facebook, Google and Apple should be broken up through antitrust enforcement.

In March, the European Commission had slapped the company with a $1.7 billion anti-trust fine.