US regulator to recommend suing Google for manipulating search results

US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigators are preparing a recommendation that the government sue the search giant for abusing its dominance of internet search in violation of antitrust laws, Reuters reported over the weekend, citing three people familiar with the matter.

After conducting a year-long investigation, four of the FTC commissioners are convinced that the internet search giant has abused its dominance in the search market to hurt its rivals, while one commissioner is sceptical. .

To bring on a formal lawsuit, three of five FTC commissioners need to vote in support of legal action. A decision on how to proceed could come in late November or early December, the report said

The FTC believes that Google manipulates search results to benefit its own products, while making it harder for products from competitors to appear prominently on a results page and by keeping online advertising prices high.

In April, the FTC had hired high profile Washington-based lawyer Beth Wilkinson to head the investigation – an indication that the regulator was looking at filing a lawsuit against Google.

Google, which is the dominant search engine in the US, much of Europe and the rest of the world, has come under the scanner both in the US and Europe.