Tong: Google probe ‘critical to state’

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined 49 attorneys general on Monday to announce an antitrust investigation of Google, embarking on a wideranging review of a tech giant.

Tong and his fellow attorneys general say Google threatens competition and hurts consumers and business through its continued growth on the web and its dominance on the internet.

The investigation is headed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who held a news conference Monday on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court with other Republican attorneys general involved in the probe. California and Alabama are the only states not to have joined the investigation.

Manipulation of information by Google and other tech giants also may force consumers to pay higher prices, Tong said.

“They bombard us with information and influence us heavily in what we buy,” he said. “It forces us to pay more than what we have to.”

After several years of investigation by the U.S. Justice Department and nearly two dozen state attorneys general, Microsoft was sued for alleged antitrust and other consumer protection violations. The case accused Microsoft of making it difficult for consumers to install competing software on computers operated by Windows.

Microsoft agreed to make concessions, but the lawsuit failed to achieve its goal — a breakup of the giant tech company.

Tong, however, is optimistic the investigation of Google will bear fruit.

He said the group of attorneys general have already issued Google a “40page investigation demand.”

“This investigation is critical to our state and how we do business in Connecticut,” he said.