Anti-Trust Regulators Challenge Google (GOOG)

Anti-trust regulators in Ohio and Wisconsin are

business practices to determine if they are in violation of anti-trust laws. As Google's

search engine business grows and the company works to expand into other areas such as mobile advertising, it faces growing scrutiny by anti-trust officials. The U.S. Justice Department and Wisconsin's attorney general are also rumored to be evaluating a $700 million bid by Google to buy ITA Software that was announced in July 2010. This privately-held company specializes in flight information software. The Texas attorney general and the European Commission are also investigating the accusation that Google biases search results to benefit its own services, according to the article. The purpose of anti-trust laws is to prevent market dominance that hurts both consumers and potential competition within the respective market. Google dominates the U.S. search market with 65% of the market. The tech giant also spent $1.8 billion last year on 45 acquisitions. This would make it seem that market dominance is Google's end goal. What could anti-trust probes mean for Google? Best case scenario, Google is found to have done nothing wrong and continues business as usual. However, as more states have discussed the possibility of investigations, Google may have a very real and costly problem. As a company that operates on a global scale, reworking its policies and practices may create an expensive hindrance to Google's future performance. Investors should consider this possibility before investing in the internet powerhouse.