Germany launches antitrust probe into Google Maps

Germany's Federal Cartel Office launched a proceeding against Google LLC's Google Germany GmbH and parent company Alphabet Inc. over alleged restrictions imposed by the Google Maps platform that potentially harms competition among map service providers.

The regulator's president, Andreas Mundt, said in a June 21 statement there was information suggesting that Google might be restricting the merging of its own map services with third-party map services.

The proceeding is largely based on new powers granted to the regulator under the amended German Competition Act, which allows the watchdog to ban companies "of paramount significance for competition across markets from engaging in anti-competitive practices." Google and its parent, Alphabet, qualify under the measure.

In January, the watchdog placed Google under extended abuse supervision in the country amid an investigation into the technology company's processing of personal data and a probe into the Google News Showcase tool, according to a Jan. 5 Dow Jones Newswires report.