Google 'faces' new federal antitrust probe in US

US regulators are in the early stages of an antitrust probe into whether Google Inc, the top player in web display advertising, breaks antitrust law in how it handles some advertising sales, a source told Reuters.

The source said that it was unlikely that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had sent out civil investigative demands in relation to the probe, which would be the sign of a formal and more serious investigation.

The new line of inquiry focuses on tools acquired when Google bought display ad company DoubleClick in 2007; other firms which specialise in helping Web publishers sell ads to put on their websites are complaining to the FTC, the source said.

The firms have accused Google of leveraging some of its most popular DoubleClick products, such as the ad managing system which has an estimated 80 per cent of the market, to push websites to use other products, including Ad Exchange where websites swap ads, the source said.

According to a second source familiar with the situation, Google has not been notified of any antitrust investigation so far. Google and the FTC declined comment.

The sources did not want to be named in order to protect their business relationships.

The FTC wrapped up an earlier investigation into Google just four months ago, concluding that the search giant had not manipulated its web search results to hurt rivals. Google was the number one player in the $15-billion US display ad market in 2012, with a 15.1 per cent market share, compared with Facebook Inc's 14.6 per cent share, according to industry research firm eMarketer. Google is expected to widen its lead to 20.7 per cent of the market in 2014.