UK Competition Watchdog Probes Google's Purchase Of Cloud Analytics Firm Looker Data Sciences

Britain's competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority, said Monday that it is investigating whether Google's plan to purchase cloud data analytics firm Looker for $2.6 billion would "result in a substantial lessening of competition" in the U.K. market.

Google said it planned to buy the California-based company to help Google Drive customers "visualize data," with the purchase expected to close by the end of this year.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Google is being investigated by EU antitrust regulators for its data collection practices.

“The Commission has sent out questionnaires as part of a preliminary investigation into Google’s practices relating to Google’s collection and use of data. The preliminary investigation is ongoing,” the European Competition Commission told Reuters in an email Saturday. EU Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager has previously forced Google to pay billions in fines for antitrust violations.

Google and other big tech companies have also been targeted by the U.S. government due to competition concerns. Google, along with Facebook, Amazon and Apple are currently under investigation by the Justice Department to see whether these companies have too much power in the market. The Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives is also undertaking a big tech investigation.

Politicians have also heavily scrutinized these big tech companies, with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., calling for the firms to be broken up. President Trump has claimed that Google has an anti-conservative bias that interfered in the 2016 presidential election.