Inside Google

A consumer group urged the Justice Department to consider breaking up Google Inc. to promote competition on the Internet.

Google’s treatment of rivals “warrants a full-blown investigation,” John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog said in Washington. Breaking up the company “should be on the table,” he said.

Google, owner of the most-used Internet search engine, relies on its dominant position to charge premium advertising fees that it can use to pay for its many businesses, according to Consumer Watchdog.