Last Updated: February 24, 2023, 13:05 IST
‘They are additionally free to make use of different mapping companies along with Google Maps Platform – and plenty of do,’ a Google spokesperson stated.
According to a report in Politico, Justice Department antitrust attorneys are working to focus on Google’s huge mapping enterprise, specializing in the corporate’s management of digital maps and site knowledge.
After dealing with an intense scrutiny of its Search and promoting companies, Google is reportedly dealing with one other potential probe from the US Department of Justice (DoJ) — this time a possible anti-trust investigation into Maps.
According to a report in Politico, Justice Department antitrust attorneys are working to focus on Google’s huge mapping enterprise, specializing in the corporate’s management of digital maps and site knowledge.
“A lawsuit focusing on Google Maps might be filed this 12 months,” said the report, citing people familiar with the matter.
“DOJ officials have been meeting with Google’s competitors and customers in recent weeks to decide who would be the best witnesses in any potential lawsuit challenging its dominant position in the market for digital maps and location information,” the report talked about.
The Google Maps investigation is “a precedence for the division’s antitrust division, and prosecutors are working shortly to succeed in a conclusion”.
The DOJ is also scrutinising the Google Automotive Services offering for automakers, which offers Google Maps with Google Play app store and the company’s voice assistant.
The DOJ and a group of state attorneys general first sued Google in October 2020, accusing the company of illegally monopolising the online search market.
The case is currently set to go to trial in September.
Google was also hit with a second case from the DOJ and an overlapping group of states targeting its online advertising business.
The company has always said its policies are designed to improve user experience.
A Google spokesperson was quoted as saying that “developers choose to use Google Maps Platform out of many options because they recognize it provides helpful, high-quality information”.
“They are additionally free to make use of different mapping companies along with Google Maps Platform – and plenty of do,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying.
In September last year, a US court allowed a larger antitrust case against Google to proceed that alleged that the tech giant monopolised the ad-tech market and suppressed competition by its access to data.
The judge, however, dismissed claims of collusion between Google and Facebook (now Meta) in the “Jedi Blue” programme, a deal by which Google and Facebook allegedly joined arms for advert auctions.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed)
