The Fair Trade Commission has decided to launch a massive survey in January into the business practices of internet technology giants, a senior lawmaker said Wednesday.

The planned survey is designed to learn how four large firms that provide online search and shopping services — Google LLC, Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. — conduct business and how best to set regulations for dealing with issues that may arise due to their massive economic clout.

The move, revealed at a meeting of ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers, comes amid growing concerns that such technology companies can force unfair deals on smaller business partners due to their overwhelming market shares.