US Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is adding his voice to a growing chorus calling for congressional hearings over Google's alleged anticompetitive business practices. Lee recently noted his concerns in a letter to Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), chairman of the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, just as Kohl announced that the subcommittee would examine complaints about Google's ranking system.

"The powerful position Google occupies in the general search arena creates myriad opportunities for anticompetitive behavior," Lee wrote in his letter to Kohl, noting that Google effectively acts as a gatekeeper for accessing Internet-based businesses.

Lee also noted, "[t]he combination of behavioral and personal information enables Google to generate consumer data that is unprecedented in scale and scope. These activities raise serious privacy concerns and may be indicative of an important market that is largely unconstrained by competition. Antitrust enforcement may unlock beneficial competition for the protection of user privacy and avert the need for additional privacy regulation."

Kohl seemed to agree that congressional scrutiny of Google's business practices is warranted. "In recent years, the dominance over Internet search of the world's largest search engine, Google, has increased and Google has increasingly sought to acquire e-commerce sites in myriad businesses," he wrote in a statement earlier this week. "In this regard, we will closely examine allegations raised by e-commerce websites that compete with Google that they are being treated unfairly in search ranking, and in their ability to purchase search advertising."

This is just one of many antitrust concerns levied towards Google as it has expanded into e-books, mobile device operating systems, and more. The Department of Justice is considering an antitrust suit against Google's proposed acquisition of travel software maker ITA, a deal that has been in regulatory limbo since July 2010. EU regulators are also examining Google's practices with respect to advertising sales and search ranking for competing online services. Antitrust concerns first began bubbling in 2008, when Google attempted to form a long-term partnership with Yahoo; they came to the fore again as Google attempted to reach a settlement with book publishers over its plans to scan and make searchable the contents of every book it could get its hands on.

Google spokesperson Adam Kovacevich took exception to Lee and Kohl's concerns, suggesting that healthy competition still exists in the Internet search market. "Our goal is to provide users with the best possible answers as quickly as possible," he told Bloomberg News on Friday. "We know that if we don’t deliver useful results, competition is only one click away."

Kohl said that the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee will dig deeper into Google's dealings and continue to monitor its future acquisitions: "The Subcommittee will strive to ensure that [the e-commerce] sector remains competitive, that Internet search is fair to its users and customers, advertisers have sufficient choices, and that consumers' privacy is guarded."