Britain’s Antitrust Regulator Provisional Findings on Google

By Paul Sandle

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s antitrust regulator announced on Friday its provisional findings that Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL)’s Google has abused its dominant position in digital advertising, restricting competition.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) indicated that Google may be engaging in anti-competitive practices in open display ad tech by preferentially treating its own ad exchange, potentially harming numerous British publishers and advertisers.

“We’ve provisionally found that Google is using its market power to hinder competition regarding the ads people see on websites,” said Juliette Enser, the CMA’s interim executive director of enforcement.

Enser added, “Many businesses are able to keep their digital content free or cheaper by using online advertising to generate revenue. Adverts on these websites and apps reach millions of people across the UK, assisting the buying and selling of goods and services.”

Google responded that it disagreed with the CMA’s assessment and would provide a formal response.

Dan Taylor, Google’s Vice President of Global Ads, stated, “Our advertising technology tools help websites and apps fund their content, and enable businesses of all sizes to effectively reach new customers. Google remains committed to creating value for our publisher and advertiser partners in this highly competitive sector. The core of this case rests on flawed interpretations of the ad tech sector.”

Both the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission are investigating Google’s practices in ad technology. In June 2023, EU regulators suggested that Google may need to divest parts of its ad tech business to mitigate concerns, a measure Google denounced as “disproportionate”.

The CMA noted that its provisional findings indicate that since at least 2015, Google has been abusing its dominant position on both the buying and selling sides of the advertising supply chain to favor its own ad exchange, AdX, in auction matches.

The CMA is authorized to impose fines of up to 10% of a company’s global turnover based on the severity of the infringement and can also issue legally binding orders to cease the violation.

The CMA will consider Google’s representations before making a final decision on potential actions.