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Google faces grilling on ad business before U.S. Senate antitrust panel

Senate Judiciary Committees antitrust panel, is likely to also press Google on allegations that it is opaque in pricing advertising services, as its critics complain.

Google maintains a tight grasp over each of the many steps between an advertiser looking to place an ad and a website looking to host it.

Harrison, who testifies at a time when Google has few friends in Washington, will argue that the ad tech ecosystem is crowded and competitive, with Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Facebook Inc FB.O among Google's powerful rivals, and that ad tech fees have fallen.

Justice Department is expected to file a lawsuit against Google within weeks, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Also on the panel are two other lawmakers who have raised questions about Google, Senators Josh Hawley, a Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat.

Googles critics say it uses search to tout its shopping, mapping and other services rather than giving neutral responses.

Original article
Author: Reuters Staff

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