Tech’s long hot summer of antitrust – By Margaret Harding McGill (Axios) / May 26 2020
Google, Facebook and other tech giants face a summer of regulatory grilling as long-running investigations into potential anticompetitive practices likely come to a head.
The big picture: Probes into the power of Big Tech launched by federal and state authorities are turning a year old, and observers expect action in the form of formal lawsuits and potentially damning reports — even as the companies have become a lifeline for Americans during the pandemic lockdown.
What they’re saying: “I think all of [the antitrust enforcers] have foreshadowed there would be some event by the end of the summer,” said William Kovacic, a George Washington University law professor and former Federal Trade Commission chairman. “I think they’ve poured a lot of cement around their feet so they don’t have a lot of room to maneuver on this. They have to do something that indicates forward motion come early autumn.”
1. The Justice Department vs. Google: Attorney General Bill Barr has signaled his agency is full steam ahead on its investigation into Google, with The Wall Street Journal reporting the DOJ is preparing to bring a case as soon as this summer.
- The probe, which came to light in June 2019, includes a review of Google’s position in the ad tech marketplace, and the Journal indicated investigators are also looking at Google’s search practices.
- Obama-era antitrust enforcers recently outlined a roadmap for an antitrust case against Google based on the digital ad marketplace.
- Google argues the ad tech industry is crowded and competitive, saying its rivals in the space include household names like Amazon, AT&T, Facebook, Comcast and Oracle.
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