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A U.S. antitrust investigation into Google Maps has gained steam recently following a lull, according to a Reuters report Wednesday.
Though the Department of Justice has been probing the Alphabet Inc.
GOOG,
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service since at least late 2020, the investigation was “quiet” for a stretch before regulators started asking questions again more recently, per the report.
The investigation looks into the bundling of Google Maps with other Google services, and whether the company’s practices there constitute antitrust violations, the report said.
“We always cooperate with regulators and are glad to answer any questions they may have about our business,” a Google spokesperson said. The company maintains that the market for mapping services is competitive and that a mixing of mapping information from different providers can lead to user confusion.
The Department of Justice declined to comment on the probe.
Opinion: Europe’s new Big Tech law could actually produce results
Alphabet’s Class C shares slipped 0.2% in afternoon trading, while the S&P 500 index
SPX,
declined 0.6%.
Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that a Department of Justice official wrote a letter supporting Senate efforts to prohibit big tech companies from favoring their own services over those made by rivals.
Alphabet, like other members of Big Tech, faces heavy antitrust scrutiny from regulators in the U.S. and Europe, as regulators take aim at areas such as app-store fees and advertising practices. The European Union recently came to an agreement on the Digital Markets Act, a new law that seeks to limit the power of large tech companies that could go into effect next year.
See also: Google battles antitrust actions on multiple fronts
Alphabet recently said it would allow Spotify to offer an alternative payment option for Android subscribers. App stores run by Alphabet and Apple Inc.
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have become regulatory battlegrounds lately amid pushback from app developers, who chafe at the sizable commissions that the tech giants take for each transaction.
See more: Landmark EU law could take billions from Apple, and already forced a major change at Google
