U.S. Justice Department lawyers have interviewed
publishers that work with Google in a new round of talks aimed at updating facts and gathering additional details before filing an antitrust lawsuit against the Alphabet company.
It could come
in the coming weeks, according to Bloomberg, which cites two people.
Sources said it builds on “previous interrogations conducted during an earlier stage of the long-running
investigation.”
The suit would mark the second case against Google following a 2020 lawsuit alleging antitrust violations in the company’s approach to the online search
market.
Sources told Bloomberg it has not been determined whether prosecutors will file the case in federal court in Washington, where the search case is pending, or in New York, where state
attorneys general have their own antitrust case related to Google’s ad-tech business.
The Justice Department declined to comment to Bloomberg.
Attorneys general for 16 states and
Puerto Rico sued Google for allegedly monopolizing online digital advertising in December 2020.
“The suit alleges Google reached an illegal deal with Meta to manipulate the
online auctions where advertisers and website publishers buy and sell ad space,” according to Bloomberg.