Google is everywhere, but that's also a challenge for the search giant

It's hard to imagine life without Google at this point. (Remember AltaVista?) Between its Web search, Gmail, YouTube and Google Maps products, the company is nearly ubiquitous for people who use a computer every day.

Yet that also seems to be part of the company's problem. Bloomberg reported yesterday that the Federal Trade Commission is considering a broad antitrust investigation into Google's dominance of Web search. The investigation could be about the same size as the US Department of Justice's investigation of Microsoft a decade ago, according to Bloomberg.

Of course, that doesn't mean Google is about to be split into pieces. But it does indicate that staying out of the crosshairs of regulators in the US and elsewhere will be one of the top priorities for new CEO Larry Page, who took over the company from Eric Schmidt this week.

Google, after all, did just settle FTC charges that it violated consumers' privacy, as well as its own policies, when it launched Google Buzz in February 2010.