Japan's antitrust watchdog to find Google violated law in search case, Nikkei reports

(Reuters) - Japan's competition watchdog is expected to find Google GOOGL.O guilty of violating the country's antitrust law, Nikkei Asia reported on Sunday, citing sources.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) will soon issue a cease and desist order asking Google to halt its monopolistic practices, the report added.

Google did not immediately respond to request for comment while the JFTC could not be reached for comment.

The Japanese competition watchdog started investigating Google for a possible breach of antimonopoly laws in web search services last October, following similar steps by authorities in Europe and other major economies.

Chrome is the world's most widely used web browser and is a pillar of Google's business, providing user information that helps the company target ads more effectively and profitably.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice argued ahead of a judge that Alphabet owned Google must divest its Chrome browser and should not be allowed to re-enter the browser market for five years in an effort to end Google's search monopoly.

(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Louise Heavens)