The US Department of Justice is preparing to conduct an investigation with Google on antitrust, a move that could increase pressure on the search giant, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The newspaper quoted people familiar with the preparations for the investigation, the Department of Antimonopoly of the Ministry has been working for weeks to lay the foundations on which to build the investigation with Google on the monopoly.

The Federal Trade Commission, which is involved in antitrust management with the US Department of Justice, has already conducted a wide investigation with Google, but closed it in 2013 without any action.

Google then made some voluntary changes to certain business practices, in response to the investigation at the time.

US officials said the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department had recently held talks on who would oversee the investigation with Google, and the commission agreed to give the Justice Department powers to investigate.

The ministry is currently studying Google’s business practices closely, particularly those related to research, as well as partnerships with others, according to one official familiar with the subject.

While it was not clear whether Google was aware of the preparation for the investigation, some insiders said a third party in contact with the search giant was already in contact with Justice Department officials.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on the investigation, as did a spokeswoman for the Federal Trade Commission. Google has not commented on the subject yet.

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