The US Justice Department is investigating Google\u2019s dominance in mapping, reviving a thread of its long-running antitrust investigation into the search giant, according to three people familiar with the probe.<\/p>\n
Department lawyers have been seeking information and reinterviewing potential witnesses, the people said, speaking anonymously to discuss a pending investigation.<\/p>\n
The probe is focused on how Alphabet Inc.\u2019s Google bundles its services, and could result in a new antitrust complaint, they said.<\/p>\n
The development shows the Justice Department is continuing to scrutinize some of Google\u2019s most popular products, even after filing two major antitrust suits against the company.<\/p>\n
Google\u2019s terms of service require developers to use its maps and search products together.<\/p>\n
The limitations prevent companies from using Google Places data \u2013 which offer detailed information, photos and reviews of specific establishments \u2013 on rival mapping services.<\/p>\n
Forcing companies to use one product in order to gain access to a more popular one, known as bundling, can violate antitrust law.<\/p>\n
Google said the restrictions ensure a good user experience, and that some third parties from which it licenses map data restrict how it is used.<\/p>\n
\u201cDevelopers choose to use Google Maps Platform out of many options because they recognize it provides helpful, high-quality information,\u201d Google spokesperson Peter Schottenfels said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are also free to use other mapping services in addition to Google Maps Platform \u2013 and many do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rivals have complained the restrictions could impair innovation in a number of emerging fields, such as drones, delivery and logistics, as well as electric and autonomous vehicles.<\/p>\n
At a February 2021 House hearing, Garmin Ltd. and closely held Mapbox Inc. raised concerns about Google\u2019s restrictions related to maps.<\/p>\n
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.<\/p>\n
The Justice Department began investigating Google in 2019 and has filed two antitrust complaints \u2013 one focused on search and another on its advertising technology business.<\/p>\n
The agency sought information from the company related to mapping as part of the search case, but ultimately opted to file a narrow antitrust complaint that focuses on Google\u2019s contracts with browsers and smartphone makers that require its search engine to be set as the default.<\/p>\n
State attorneys general conducted their own investigations and filed three separate complaints against Google related to search, advertising technology and the tech giant\u2019s control over apps downloaded on Android smartphones and devices.<\/p>\n
The state search case \u2013 led by Colorado and Nebraska \u2013 was broader than the one filed by the Justice Department and included some allegations related to mapping and Google\u2019s bundling of products to carmakers.<\/p>\n
Germany\u2019s antitrust authority\u00a0opened an investigation into Google\u2019s map restrictions<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0last year.<\/p>\n Politico earlier reported on the revived probe.<\/p>\n The US Justice Department is investigating Google\u2019s dominance in mapping, reviving a thread of its long-running antitrust investigation into the search giant, according to three people familiar with the probe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341034,"featured_media":481327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[2272,64167,84517],"class_list":["post-481319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-software","tag-google-maps","tag-navigation-apps","tag-us-justice-department"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481319"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341034"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":481323,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481319\/revisions\/481323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Now read: Google rolls out Memory and Energy Saver modes in latest Chrome update<\/a><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"