GOOGL Alphabet Inc

By Brent Kendall 

WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan group of 50 U.S. attorneys general representing almost every state and two territories officially kicked off an antitrust investigation of Alphabet Inc.'s Google on Monday, saying the search giant's dominance raised troubling concerns.

About a dozen attorneys general, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, announced the probe in front of the Supreme Court building.

Mr. Paxton said the states for now would focus on Google's practices in the online advertising market. "But the facts will lead where the facts lead," he said.

The states for months had been making plans for the investigation, which were previously reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The investigation is the latest challenge for Big Tech, which is under fire from both federal and state antitrust enforcers as well as from Congress, over concern about whether a handful of giant companies have outsize power and are using it to illegally stifle competition and harm consumers.

The Justice Department is separately scrutinizing Google for possible anticompetitive practices, and more broadly it is examining the actions of a handful of dominant online platforms, including those operated by Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. The Federal Trade Commission is conducting related enforcement activities.

Write to Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 09, 2019 15:19 ET (19:19 GMT)

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