Canada's Competition Bureau announced on Thursday that it is taking legal action against Google for alleged anticompetitive behavior in the online advertising sector. The bureau claims that Google has engaged in anticompetitive conduct by unlawfully tying its ad tech tools together to maintain its dominant market position.
The investigation revealed that Google holds significant market shares in various segments of online advertising, including 90% in publisher ad servers, 70% in advertiser networks, 60% in demand-side platforms, and 50% in ad exchanges. This dominance has been cited as a barrier to competition, hindering innovation, inflating advertising costs, and reducing revenues for publishers.
The Competition Bureau is seeking an order from the Competition Tribunal to compel Google to divest two of its ad tech services - DoubleClick for Publishers and AdX. The tribunal is a quasi-judicial body responsible for addressing non-compliance with the Competition Act.
In response to the allegations, Google has defended its position, stating that the online advertising market is highly competitive, with ample choices available to ad buyers and sellers. The tech giant has expressed its intention to challenge the accusations brought forward by the bureau.
Meanwhile, in the United States, regulators are also taking action against Google's alleged anticompetitive practices. The Department of Justice has proposed measures to break up Google in order to prevent the company from further stifling competition through its dominant search engine. The proposed breakup includes selling Google's Chrome web browser and imposing restrictions to prevent favoritism towards its own search engine on the Android platform.
