Google (News - Alert) is expected to soon be served with a civil subpoena as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continues to review the dominance of the company in web searches, according to media reports.

In several countries, Google has been accused by rival companies of favoring its own services in its search results.

The United States is not the only place where Google is being investigated as part of an inquiry on the Web search sector. The European Commission has been investigating Google since November 2010. Google denies it violated European business regulations.

But rivals still challenge Google’s practices. For example, Foundem.co.uk alleged Google, in search results, lowered Foundem's comparative shopping services and instead put in its own product-search results, The Wall Street Journal said. Among the companies crying foul against Google in the United States are: Expedia, TripAdvisor, Yelp and Microsoft (News - Alert), The Journal adds.

The FTC subpoena is expected to be presented to Google within a few days, and the company would be required to provide additional information to authorities.

In addition, other companies may be asked for information about their relationship with Google – as the antitrust review continues by the FTC (News - Alert), according to The Journal.

The issue has had an impact on Google’s business dealings.

Reuters noted that Google dropped a deal with Yahoo in 2008 after questions arose by the U.S. Justice Department. And a judge ruled in May that a deal Google reached with publishers and authors for a large digital library was illegal, Reuters (News - Alert) added.

In addition, the Justice Department currently is reviewing Google's purchase of Admeld (an Internet-advertising company) for about $400 million, The Journal reports.

Also, the Texas Attorney General’s office and the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee have been reviewing Google’s practices in search results, according to an Associated Press report carried on TMCnet.

About two-thirds of all Internet searches in the United States are done using Google, The Journal said. In Europe, Google’s market share is over 80 percent in many regions, The Journal added.

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