The Competition Tribunal, a quasi-judicial body designated to enforce Canada’s Competition Act is taking care of this case. According to the bureau, Google’s practices are forcing market participants to depend on its ad tech tools, trimming competitors and weakening the competitive landscape.
The Competition Bureau of Canada has taken legal step against Google, claiming that the tech giant is conducting anticompetitive practices in its online ad business. The Bureau is expecting an order so that Google divests two of its primary ad technology services- AdX and Double Click for Publishers- and also pays a penalty.
As per the Bureau, Google is consolidating its authority in the sector by unlawfully wrapping its advertising technology tools. They further state that Google has a market share of around 90% in publisher ad servers, 60% in demand-side platforms, 70% in advertiser networks, and 50% in ad exchanges.
This control over the market has discouraged innovation, stifled competition, distended advertising prices, and decreased revenue for publishers, the Bureau alleges.
Matthew Boswell, the Commissioner of Competition has given a statement that Google has ‘abused its dominant position’ in the realm of online advertising, sabotaged competitors, and distorted fair market practices.
Google denies the accusations, asserting the online advertising industry is highly competitive. Dan Taylor, the Vice President of Google’s Global Ads said the complaint disregards the wide range of options available to publishers and advertisers. Google chooses to defend its stand against such claims.
U.S. regulators are also trying to target Google. Recently, The Department of Justice suggested breaking up the company to curb its accused monopoly in online search and advertising. Advices include selling Google’s Chrome browser and forcing restrictions on Android to stop favouring Google’s search engine.
Both cases underline increasing international scrutiny of the practices Google conduct and the influence the tech giant has in the digital advertising ecosystem.