Japanese Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has decided to launch anti-trust investigation in January into the business practices of four large firms that provide online search and shopping services — Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.com

The move comes amid growing concerns that such tech cos. can force unfair deals on smaller business partners due to their overwhelming market shares.

JFTC will compile basic regulatory principles later this month aimed at preventing potential abuse of their advantageous positions and consider specific measures that may be taken, including rewriting related laws.

It has also planned to establish a special organization, comprising of law, economics and information tech experts, among other fields, for monitoring tech cos. to formulate rules and regulations and pass forward information to regulatory authorities.