NY AG says 7 states may join DOJ's lawsuit against Google in coming weeks

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday that an additional seven states may join the antitrust lawsuit filed by the Justice Department against Alphabet Inc.’s Google in the coming weeks. 

James and the attorneys general of Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee and Utah, released a joint statement Tuesday, saying they plan to conclude parts of an ongoing bipartisan investigation into Google’s anti-competitive market behavior in the coming weeks. They will then decide whether to file a complaint and would file a motion to consolidate with the case filed by the DOJ on Tuesday. It would be litigated cooperatively, “much as we did in the Microsoft case.”

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“Over the last year, both the U.S. DOJ and state attorneys general have conducted separate but parallel investigations into Google’s anti-competitive market behavior. We appreciate the strong bipartisan cooperation among the states and the good working relationship with the DOJ on these serious issues,” the joint statement released by James’ office read. “This is a historic time for both federal and state antitrust authorities, as we work to protect competition and innovation in our technology markets.”

Last September, James announced that she and a bipartisan coalition, which included almost every attorney general in the nation, initiated a bipartisan investigation into Google for potentially anticompetitive conduct. The probe focused on Google’s dominance in search and related industries, as well as the potential harm caused to consumers and the economy from any anticompetitive conduct.

Separately, last September, James announced that she was leading a bipartisan, multistate investigation into Facebook for antitrust issues, which remains ongoing, according to her office.

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The Justice Department on Tuesday sued Google for antitrust violations, alleging that it abused its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and harm consumers.

The lawsuit marks the government’s most significant attempt to protect competition since its groundbreaking case against Microsoft more than 20 years ago. It could be an opening salvo ahead of other major government antitrust actions, given ongoing investigations of major tech companies including Apple, Amazon, and Facebook at both the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission.

“Google is the gateway to the internet and a search advertising behemoth," U.S. Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen told reporters. “It has maintained its monopoly power through exclusionary practices that are harmful to competition.”

A Google spokesperson told Fox News: "Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed. People use Google because they choose to -- not because they're forced to or because they can't find alternatives."

The company issued a longer statement on its website, saying in part: "This lawsuit would do nothing to help consumers. To the contrary, it would artificially prop up lower-quality search alternatives, raise phone prices, and make it harder for people to get the search services they want to use."

According to the lawsuit, "For years, Google has entered into exclusionary agreements, including tying arrangements, and engaged in anticompetitive conduct to lock up distribution channels and block rivals."

"American consumers are forced to accept Google’s policies, privacy practices, and use of personal data; and new companies with innovative business models cannot emerge from Google’s long shadow. For the sake of American consumers, advertisers, and all companies now reliant on the internet economy, the time has come to stop Google’s anticompetitive conduct and restore competition," it says.

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The DOJ claims the action was brought to stop Google from “unlawfully maintaining monopolies in the markets for general search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising in the United States through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices, and to remedy the effects of this conduct."

Fox News' Adam Shaw, Gillian Turner, Jake Gibson, and Bill Mears, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report.