Google’s online search empire is being targeted with a fresh probe under the United Kingdom’s sweeping new online antitrust law, officials announced on Tuesday.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, an antitrust watchdog, is probing whether Google has “strategic market status” – a designation that could open up the company to a crackdown under the country’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, which took effect this year.

“It’s our job to ensure people get the full benefit of choice and innovation in search services and get a fair deal – for example in how their data is collected and stored,” CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said in a statement.

Figurines using computers and smartphones infront of a Google logo illustration
Google faces a probe under the UK’s new digital competition law.

“And for businesses, whether you are a rival search engine, an advertiser or a news organization, we want to ensure there is a level playing field for all businesses, large and small, to succeed,” Cardell added.

UK officials will investigate “Google’s position in search and search advertising services and how this impacts consumers and businesses including advertisers, news publishers, and rival search engines,” according to a press release.

The CMA noted that Google “accounts for more than 90% of all general search queries, and more than 200,000 UK advertisers use Google’s search advertising” and called search “vital for economic growth.”

Google is the first company to face a probe related to its potential “strategic market status” under the UK’s law. The CMA has signaled it will probe other companies in the coming weeks.

“People across the UK trust Google Search to help them find what they need,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement. “Google Search supports millions of UK businesses to grow by reaching customers in innovative ways.”

Google “will continue to engage constructively with the CMA to ensure that new rules benefit all types of websites, and still allow people in the UK to benefit from helpful and cutting edge services,” the spokesperson added.

The probe represents yet another headache for Google, which is under intense antitrust scrutiny in the US and Europe regarding its practices in online search, digital advertising and other elements of its business.

Last August, Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly over online search. He is scheduled to decide on what remedies to implement to address the monopoly by this summer.

In November, the DOJ formally asked Mehta to consider forcing Google to order a selloff of its Chrome web browser as one of several methods of breaking its hold on the market.

Elsewhere, Google faces a separate DOJ trial targeting its digital advertising empire.

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