The US justice department is readying an investigation of Google’s business practices and whether they violate competition law, according to reports.

The search giant was fined a record 2.72 billion dollars (£2.15 billion) by European regulators in 2017 for abusing its dominance of the online search market.

GoogleReports claimed an antitrust inquiry is being prepared in the US (Jonathan Brady/PA)

In the US, the federal trade commission carried out an antitrust investigation of Google, but closed it in 2013 without taking action.

Now, the American justice department has undertaken a probe of the company, according to reports by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Bloomberg News.