The Federal Cartel Office will investigate European units of
Google in Germany and Ireland, as well as and its parent company, Alphabet, in
California, it said in a statement.
The investigation has an "outstanding cross-market
significance" due to the breadth of Google's digital products, Cartel
office head Andreas Mundt said.
"Google's business model is very fundamentally built on
the processing of its users' data," Mundt said. "Google has a
strategic advantage here due to its established access to competitively
relevant data."
A key question in the probe was whether consumers "have
sufficient choice over the use of their data by Google if they want to use
Google services", he said.
The investigation follows the application of a new law
giving the authorities more power to rein in big tech companies, with similar
proceedings launched recently against Amazon and Facebook.
Under the amendment to Germany's competition law passed in
January, the watchdog said it now has more power to "intervene earlier and
more effectively" against big tech companies, rather than simply punishing
them for abuses of their dominant market position.
The Federal Cartel Office said last week it is examining
whether Amazon has "an almost unchallengeable position of economic power",
having already launched two traditional abuse control proceedings.
The watchdog has also employed its new powers to widen the
scope of an investigation into Facebook over its integration of virtual reality
headsets.
The push to tighten legislation comes as big tech companies
are facing increasing scrutiny around the globe, including in the United
States, where Google and Facebook are facing antitrust suits.
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