Photo agency Getty Images has asked the European competition regulators to investigate Google, accusing the Internet search giant of diverting users to its own images service. The European Commission has already conducted a number of investigations into Google, and has charged it with promoting its own shopping service at the expense of rivals and also of using its Android mobile operating system to squeeze out competitors.

"When someone has a dominant position, they have a duty not to abuse that dominant position and we feel that Google isn't observing that duty when it comes to images," Getty Images Vice President Jonathan Lockwood said, speaking to Reuters on Wednesday.

Getty Images says it has 200,000 contributors who rely on the photojournalism agency to make a living.