The Department of Justice says it is conducting new interviews as part of an investigation into Google's advertising technology

Over the past few weeks, the Department of Justice has conducted new interviews as part of its investigation into Google's advertising technology, a sign that it may be getting closer to filing for his second antitrust complaint against the company, three people with knowledge of the case said.

The Department of Justice investigated for more than a year to find out whether Google abuses its dominance over interrelated technologies that serve online advertisements. His lawyers are again talking to Google's publishers and competitors to gather new evidence, confirm evidence and test his legal theory ahead of a possible trial, the people, who were not authorized to discuss confidential matters, said. /p>

A Justice Department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bloomberg reported earlier on the Justice Department meetings.

"Huge competition in online advertising has made online ads more relevant, lowered fees technology and expanded options for publishers and advertisers," said Peter Schottenfels, a Google spokesperson.

On August 31, the District of the Southern District of New York will hear Google's motion to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit brought by the State of Texas over the company's ad technology practices. Pending a decision on that, Justice Department officials could see what a judge thinks of the antitrust allegations before taking their own legal action, these people said.

Texas argues in its case that Google obtained and abused a monopoly over the digital advertising industry to manipulate auctions and generate profits well above those of competing ad exchanges. These are the same issues the Justice Department investigated, people familiar with the investigation said.

In 2020, the Justice Department filed a complaint arguing that Google had violated antimonopoly laws by abusing its power over online search. Later that year, the attorneys general of Texas and nine other states filed their own lawsuit focused on Google's control of the display ad tech ecosystem, which is used by publishers like media to sell advertising space on their websites.

This summer, Google offered to resolve the Department of Justice investigation by moving its ad technology business into a separate unit from its parent company, Alphabet, according to a person with knowledge of the offer, which predated. reported by the Wall Street Journal. But the government was highly skeptical of the offer, the person said.

Mr. Schottenfels said Google is "constructively engaging with regulators to address their concerns" and "we have no intention of selling or exiting this business."