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India investigating Google AdWords in new antitrust probe

India investigating Google AdWords in new antitrust probe

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The Competition Commission of India has launched a probe to determine whether it is conducting its AdWords business in an anti-competitive manner, one of several antitrust probes against the company worldwide.

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Google India

Search giant Google can now add another name to the list of parties investigating potential antitrust violations. According to The Wall Street Journal and AFP, the Competition Commission of India has launched a probe to determine whether Google is engaging in anti-competitive practices. The probe will initially be focused on AdWords, say officials, but could expand to other services. It was apparently launched after complaints by a site called Bharatmatrimony.com, which has previously accused Google of "[abusing] its dominance by engaging in discriminatory and retaliatory practices relating to AdWords," and will take "at least a couple of months" to complete.

This latest probe could become the latest in a number of legal battles for Google. In the US, the FTC has been conducting a probe over Google Search, which it expanded early this year to include Google+. The European Commission is in the middle of a similar probe, and Microsoft has filed a complaint with the agency, saying that Google is abusing patents it acquired from Motorola. In India, Google has also gone on trial for refusing to remove "objectionable" content. Google has said that it was not aware of the Indian antitrust probe, and that it is not in a position to comment on it.