Google has confirmed in a regulatory filing that the Federal Trade Commission means to investigate its search and advertising business for abusing its dominance like the European Commission is doing. It got the subpoena last Thursday, the day the Wall Street Journal reported that the shoe was about to drop. Subpoenas to competitors and customers will follow. Observers like the Journal immediately drew comparisons to what happened to Microsoft and suggested that Google could be defending itself for years, condemned to distraction while facing a nemesis like Facebook.

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