Google LLC’s legal and government relations teams will have a busy 2020 by the look of things.

Today, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton held a press conference on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court to announce he’ll be leading a multistate antitrust investigation into the search giant. The probe is backed by attorneys general from 47 other states as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Alabama and California, where Google is headquarters, decided not to participate in the initiative. 

The group will at first focus its attention on Google’s core advertising business. The search giant makes more than 80% of its revenue from selling digital ads, despite big investments in other areas such as video streaming, and is by far the largest player with an estimated 31% share of the global market. 

“It’s an investigation to determine the facts,” Paxton said during the press conference. “Right now it’s about advertising, but the facts will lead where they lead.”

Paxton reportedly hinted that the probe could in the future expand to other major pillars of Google’s business such as YouTube. The attorneys general involved in the effort are expected to meet about once a week, he added, and members of the group will have latitude to determine how big of a role they wish to take on.

The announcement of the investigation didn’t take Google off guard since there were a number of advanced reports ahead of the press conference. Kent Walker, the search giant’s senior vice president of global affairs, penned a blog post on Friday in which he touched upon the growing scrutiny of the company’s business practices.

“We have always worked constructively with regulators and we will continue to do so,” Walker wrote. “We look forward to showing how we are investing in innovation, providing services that people want, and engaging in robust and fair competition.”

The investigation into Google is a notable development for Facebook Inc., which forms the other half of the so-called duopoly that dominates the digital ad market. The social network on Friday became the subject of a separate multistate antitrust investigation backed by 9 attorneys general. Given the broad backing that the Google probe has attracted, the number of attorneys looking into Facebook’s business practices could potentially rise significantly over time.

The two companies are facing pressure at the federal level as well. In July, the Justice Department launched a broad investigation of the tech industry’s biggest players, while the House Judiciary Committee is pursuing a probe of its own and the Federal Trade Commission is looking into Facebook. 

Photo: Robbie Shade