Justice Department ramps up probe of Google-Motorola deal

The Justice Department has asked for more information from Google as it reviews the Internet giant's purchase of Motorola Mobility, the company confirmed in a blog post late Wednesday.

Google announced its plans to buy cellphone maker Motorola Mobility last month for $12.5 billion. The Federal Trade Commission is already investigating Google for potential violations of antitrust law, and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt defended his company's business practices before the Senate Judiciary's Antitrust subcommittee last week.

 According to Google, it bought the cellphone maker in part to use its large patent portfolio to fend off lawsuits from smartphone competitors.

Dennis Woodside, a senior vice president at Google, said the company is confident the deal will be approved. 

"We believe very strongly this is a pro-competitive transaction that is good for Motorola Mobility, good for consumers and good for our partners," he wrote in the blog post.

He said the Justice Department's request for more information is "pretty routine."

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