After the United States and the European Union, it is the United Kingdom’s turn to accuse Google of abusing its dominant position in online advertising, a new blow to one of the Californian giant’s historic services and its main source of revenue.
The conclusions of the British competition authority, the CMA, issued after two years of investigation, are for the moment only “provisional”, pending the responses that Google will provide.
They come three days before the opening on Monday in the United States of a resounding trial launched by the American Department of Justice against the company’s sales technologies in advertising.
And a few months after conclusions similar to those of the CMA, issued by the European Commission, which could result in a heavy fine, or even a forced dismantling of the company – the weapon of last resort.
Online advertising remains Google’s main source of revenue, selling ad space on its own sites and apps and acting as an intermediary between advertisers and third-party sites or apps.
The company’s services include digital tools to manage ad space, tools to manage automated campaigns, and ad exchanges for buying and selling space.
“Misinterpretations”
According to the British regulator, the Mountain View group “abused its dominant position by exploiting its publisher ad server and buying tools to restrict competition in the United Kingdom”.
As a result, Google’s competitors were unable to “compete on a level playing field to offer publishers and advertisers a better and more competitive service”.
“Thousands of British publishers and advertisers” may have been harmed, according to the regulator.
“The CMA will now carefully consider Google’s submissions before making its final decision,” it said in its statement.
“The heart of this case is misinterpretations of the ad tech industry. We disagree with the CMA’s view,” said Dan Taylor, vice president of global advertising at Google.
In 2019, UK advertisers spent around £1.8bn on online ads to UK consumers, according to the UK regulator.
The CMA’s findings on Google’s service, which has been criticized for years, are hardly a revelation. But they do open a new front in global attempts to limit or regulate Google’s practices in online advertising, and more generally the power of tech giants.
Two class actions have already been launched against Google in the UK over its prominent place in online advertising.
One for 13.6 billion pounds for reducing the revenues of content publishers — by lowering ad revenues, while increasing the prices for using its advertising platform.
The other for 7 billion pounds for using its dominant position to increase the prices paid by advertisers wishing to improve their positioning.
Pop-up
In the United States, the trial expected on Monday follows a complaint from the Department of Justice, which accuses the company of having “used illegal methods” to “eliminate or drastically reduce any threat to its dominance” in advertising.
The department and eight American states are asking the courts for a fine and the sale of its activities related to the sale of advertising space.
They emphasize that Google controls the technologies used by “virtually all websites” to sell banners or “pop-up” windows, but also the tools advertisers use to buy these spaces, and the market where the transactions take place.
The technology giant, known for its search engine, also operates the YouTube online video streaming platform and the Android mobile operating system.
Alphabet, its parent company, achieved revenue of $84.74 billion (+14%), from which it generated net income of $23.6 billion, up 28%.
This article is originally published on wap.laliberte.ch
