Google Comes Under Second Investigation by U.K's Competition Watchdog

Big tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter are facing investigations and fighting various lawsuits across countries, especially related to data privacy and anti-competitive behavior. And this trend does not seem to be ending anytime soon, at least for Google. In a new case, the company has come under investigation by United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).Â

The U.K’s competition watchdog launched the probe into the company’s advertising business as it feared that Google was unfairly freezing out its competitors. Earlier in March, CMA and the European Commission had launched an antitrust investigationOpens a new window against both Google and Meta over the allegations of colluding in the programmatic ad markets. Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg were accused of collaborating in a project called â€œJedi Blueâ€ to curtail header bidding in the programmatic advertising space.

Hence, this is the second investigation by the watchdog against Google in recent times.

See more: Facebook and Google Accused of Colluding in Programmatic Ad Markets in New Lawsuit

CMA To Investigate Google’s Adtech Stack

The new investigation takes a deep dive into Google’s adtech stack. The probe will examine three key parts of the chain: demand-side platforms (DSP), ad exchanges, and publisher ad servers. According to CMA, Google owns the largest service provider in each of these parts of the adtech stack. The watchdog wanted to evaluate if Google’s practices in each of these components of the adtech stack could hinder competition. These included â€œwhether Google limited the interoperability of its ad exchange with third-party publisher ad servers and/or contractually tied these services together, making it more difficult for rival ad servers to compete,â€ according to CMA.

Talking about the investigationOpens a new window , Andrea Coscelli, chief executive, CMA, said, â€œWe’re worried that Google may be using its position in adtech to favour its own services to the detriment of its rivals, of its customers and ultimately of consumers. This would be bad for the millions of people who enjoy access to a wealth of free information online every day.â€

She further said, â€œWeakening competition in this area could reduce the ad revenues of publishers, who may be forced to compromise the quality of their content to cut costs or put their content behind paywalls. It may also be raising costs for advertisers, which are passed on through higher prices for advertised goods and services. It’s vital that we continue to scrutinise the behaviour of the tech firms which loom large over our lives and ensure the best outcomes for people and businesses throughout the U.K.â€

Google Says It Will Cooperate in CMA’s Investigation

Google has not yet given a detailed public statement on the new investigation. However, according to TechCrunch, the company saidOpens a new window , â€œAdvertising tools from Google and many competitors help websites and apps fund their content, and help businesses of all sizes effectively reach their customers. Google’s tools alone have supported an estimated Â£55 billion in economic activity for over 700,000 businesses in the U.K., and when publishers choose to use our advertising services, they keep the majority of revenue. We will continue to work with the CMA to answer their questions and share the details on how our systems work.â€

Besides the probes related to project Jedi Blue, Google has been fighting a few other lawsuits across Europe. For example, the company was fined â‚¬150 million in January by the French watchdog CNIL for making it difficult for internet users to reject tracking cookies. It was also hit with a â‚¬1.5 billion antitrust penaltyOpens a new window by the European Union (E.U.) in 2019 (Google is currently appealing against it). Earlier in 2017, the company was slapped with a â‚¬2.4 billion penaltyOpens a new window by E.U.

The verdict of the current probe is yet to be seen.