Seven additional U.S. states could sue Google LLC in the coming weeks over its alleged anti-competitive behavior, New York Attorney General Letitia James said Oct. 20.
The New York AG along with attorneys general of Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee and Utah have been investigating the Alphabet Inc. unit's dominance in search and related industries, as well as the potential harm caused to consumers and the economy from any anti-competitive conduct.
If a complaint is filed, the states would file a motion to consolidate their case with the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit.
The news comes after 11 U.S. states, including Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and Texas, joined the DOJ's suit against Google for allegedly using "anti-competitive and exclusionary practices" in unlawfully maintaining monopolies in the general search, search advertising and general search text advertising markets.