Watchdog launches investigation into whether Google has violated the law by making it difficult for competitors to compete with them in the advertising technology market
- The British competition supervisor is examining whether Google has distorted the competition
- We’re investigating whether Google has made it harder to compete with rival advertising services
- The regulator says the investigation will focus on mediation in advertising technology
- This is also known as a “set of ad technologies” and makes it easier to sell ad space online
British competition authorities have launched an investigation into whether Google has violated the law by restricting competition in the advertising technology market.
The Directorate for Competition and Markets will assess whether the firm has distorted competition and hampered competition with competitive advertising services.
The regulator said its investigation into the search giant owned by Alphabet would focus on mediation in advertising technology, also known as ‘advertising technology’.
This is a set of services that facilitate the sale of online advertising space between sellers and buyers, and according to data from 2019, according to data from 2019, it is worth 1.8 billion pounds a year.
The CMA said Google has a strong position at various levels of the space - providing a wide range of services including platforms where advertisers can buy online advertising space; technology that automates the sale of advertising space; and ad inventory management for publishers, who decide which ads to display.
Pictured is Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California (image file). The range of services that Google offers means that it deals with and charges fees to both sellers and buyers of ads
The range of services offered by California-based Google means that it deals with and charges fees to both sellers and buyers of ads.
The CMA said it wanted to assess whether Google was distorting competition in the sector by restricting the interoperability of some services and by contract linking some of its services together - making it harder to compete with others.
The competition regulator said he was also concerned that Google may have used its platform to illegally favor its own advertising services, while taking steps to exclude those offered by others.
“We are concerned that Google may be using its position in advertising technology to favor its own services to the detriment of its rivals, its customers and ultimately consumers,” said CMA Executive Director Andrea Koseli.
“This would be bad for millions of people who enjoy access to a lot of free information online every day.
“Weakening competition in this area could reduce revenue from publishers’ ads, which could be forced to jeopardize the quality of their content in order to reduce costs or put their content behind ‘pay walls.’
“It can also be an increase in costs for advertisers who are passed on through higher prices of advertised goods and services.
“It is vital that we continue to investigate the behavior of technology firms looming over our lives and provide the best results for people and businesses across the UK.”
In response, a Google spokesman said: “Advertising tools from Google and many competitors help websites and applications fund their content and help businesses of all sizes reach their customers efficiently.
“Google tools alone have supported an economic activity estimated at £ 55 billion for over 700,000 businesses in the UK, and when publishers decide to use our advertising services, they retain most of their revenue.
“We will continue to work with the CMA to answer their questions and share details about how our systems work.”
There are also thousands of other players in the same market, including Amazon, Abode, Oracle, Microsoft, Facebook, Criteo, Trade Desk - many of which have their own advertising technology platforms.
The CMA investigation, located in London’s Canary Wharf, follows the investigation into the “Jedi Blue” agreement between the owners of the company Google and Meta earlier this year.
Andrea Coscelli, CEO of Competition and Markets, said it was ‘vital’ for the CMA to continue to ‘review the behavior of technology firms looming over our lives’
This building in London’s Canary Wharf houses the Office for the Protection of Competition and Markets
Governments around the world are strengthening the regulation of American technology giants, which became even more powerful during the pandemic. There are several investigations globally about their market positions, including the US and the EU.
Last year, Britain imposed a new competition regime to prevent Google and Facebook from using their dominance to oust smaller companies and put customers at a disadvantage.
The move created a dedicated digital markets unit within the CMA that could be empowered to suspend, block and overturn decisions made by technology firms and impose financial penalties for non-compliance.
Companies were told that they needed to be more transparent about how they used consumer data and that advertising practices needed to adapt to changing expectations regarding data collection and use.
Commercials