The Justice Department should carefully scrutinize Alphabet Inc's plan to buy Fitbit because the fitness tracker company is a source of nascent competition for Google, which is dominant in search and advertising, two public advocacy groups said on Thursday.
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department should carefully scrutinize Alphabet Inc’s plan to buy Fitbit because the fitness tracker company is a source of nascent competition for Google, which is dominant in search and advertising, two public advocacy groups said on Thursday.
Google announced the $2.1 billion deal in November, as it seeks to compete with Apple and Samsung in the market for fitness trackers and smart watches. The deal is being evaluated by the U.S. Justice Department to ensure it complies with antitrust law. “It is critical to consider what assets could very effectively offer an avenue for expansion ... if allowed to remain independent and team up with dominant platform adversaries,” they wrote in the letter, which was dated on Wednesday and released on Thursday.
The groups also argued that although Google says it does not plan to use data collected by Fitbit for advertising, it could be valuable to others.
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