WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice’s impending lawsuit against Google has narrowed to focus on the company’s power over internet search, a decision that could set off a cascade of separate lawsuits from states in ensuing weeks over the Silicon Valley giant’s dominance in other business segments.

In presentations to state attorneys general starting on Wednesday, the department is expected to outline its legal case centered on how Google uses its dominant search engine to harm rivals and consumers, said four people with knowledge of the plan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details were confidential. Meeting with the state attorneys general is one of the final steps before the department files its suit against the company, they said.

The Justice Department’s action against Google is set to be narrower than what some states and several career lawyers in the department had envisioned. The department also investigated Google’s reach in ad technology and how the company prices and places ads across the internet. But in an effort to file a case by the end of September, the agency decided to pick the piece that was furthest along in legal theory and that it felt could best withstand a potential challenge in court.

The department has not written the final draft of its complaint against Google, and the document is expected to change over the next few days to reflect internal deliberations and input from constituents like the state attorneys general. Suing Google would fulfill a push by Attorney General William P. Barr to take action against a tech giant around the end of September, an effort that has taken on greater urgency ahead of the Nov. 3 election as President Trump fights for a second term.

Source: New York Times

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