The week seems to start on the wrong foot for tech giant Google. Major companies such as Apple Inc and GroupM are making a case alongside the US Justice Department against the company mentioned above.
The companies are looking to block Google from seeing various data that the government uses and classified as "highly confidential." According to the filing, after paying billions of dollars to be the default search engine on iPhones, Google was illegally using its power to be one-step-ahead of competition.
Alongside Apple and GroupM, AT&T, Microsoft, and Amazon also offered additional information on the matter. Moreover, Microsoft and Amazon filed a joint lawsuit to see if Google had access to sensitive documents that would have given it leverage when negotiating.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the UK's competition regulator – CMA, announced that it received a complaint about Google and its market study regarding online platforms and digital ads. Here’s a part of the CMA’s statement: "We take the matters raised in the complaint very seriously and will assess them carefully with a view to deciding whether to open a formal investigation under the Competition Act."
Following the news, Google's stock price lost 1.23%. Apple went up 0.31% in today's pre-market session.
Sources: reuters.com, finance.yahoo.com