Google Has Been Subjected To A New UK Probe Because Of Its Ad-Tech Supremacy

One further Google probe is being planned by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority because of Google's hegemony over the digital advertising business. An antitrust probe of Google was launched on Thursday, the second big one this year. Meta's Open Bidding advertisements platform was purportedly favored by Google's “Jedi Blue” arrangement with Google, which the UK and the EU announced in March. A new front has opened in the Competition and Markets Authority's battle with Google over regulation.

The CMA was worried that Google was unfairly favoring its own ad exchange services at the expense of competitors. Complaints about Google’s planned deprecation of tracking cookies to migrate to an alternate stack of targeting technologies prompted the CMA to begin an investigation into the company's Privacy Sandbox plan last year, which remains under external supervision following a deal between Google and the regulator that seems to have at least delayed down any move. As part of its newest investigation into Google, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has focused on the “strong” positions Google has in the ad tech intermediation, or adtech tech stack, which the regulator fears might be distorting competition.

CMA CEO Andrea Coscelli warned that a lack of competition in this field might compel publishers to lower the quality of their material in order to save money or lock their content behind paywalls.

What To Know About Google’s Ecosystem

Google and Meta's Facebook, which dominate the advertising business, have been under increasing scrutiny from governments and watchdog groups throughout the globe as a result of their enormous influence. The CMA is also looking into allegations of coordination between Google and other parties over the company's online display advertising services.

There is a conflict of interest in Google's advertising stack, according to the CMA, which has been looking into the company since at least 2020. Powers that allow for structural adjustments are needed. According to a statement from Google, "Advertising technologies from Google and many rivals enable websites, applications, as well as small and large enterprises, in generating revenue and efficiently attracting people. When publishers utilize our advertising services, they retain the bulk of the money."

Additional Things To Consider About Google And UK Watchdogs

According to the CMA's investigation, Google's conduct in certain areas of the ad tech stack may have a negative impact on competition. These include, for example, whether Google restricted the compatibility of its advertising service with third-party source ad servers and/or contractually bound these services together, making it more difficult for other ad servers to compete," the regulator noted in a news statement.

According to a statement from the CMA, Google may have unlawfully utilized its publisher ad server and its DSPs to favor its own ad exchange services, while taking measures to exclude the services supplied by its competitors. According to a previous CMA market assessment, Google dominates key sections of the adtech tech stack. For outsiders trying to understand the industry, Google's advertising products have become more difficult to understand as they've changed and combined over time.

The CMA has not taken any enforcement action against Google to open the market despite its dismal assessment of the health of the internet ad industry over two years ago when it advocated considerable changes.

As recently as 2019, after the publishing of its preliminary assessment, the adtech giant was mentioned as one of many possible cures for the company's problems. It was decided that in order to rectify structural difficulties linked to IT companies with strategic market dominance, the CMA pushed for new powers that would allow it to conduct pro-competitive actions.

In contrast, the CMA is still waiting for legislation from the UK government to empower the Digital Markets Unit (DMU), which began working in shadow form last year, despite the fact that the DMU has been in existence since 2012. As a result, the administration seems to have no imminent plans to re-establish the competition system. Consequently, the CMA has begun investigating particular adtech activities in an effort to use its current authority. There's a shot over Whitehall's bow from the regulator's PR that it would "push forward with its current powers in the tech industry" as it waits for government approval of the DMU.

A fresh inquiry has been launched by the CMA into Google's use of its monopoly position to favor its own services over those of its competitors, users, and consumers, according to Andrea Coscelli, the CMA's CEO. There are "serious challenges" and "potential remedies," according to the CMA's 2020 market research, that will be examined as part of its probe of Google's adtech practices.

Last August, the European Union began its own extensive investigation into Google's adtech practices, which is still ongoing. French antitrust authorities have previously investigated Google's self-preference in adtech, and last year they slapped a $268 million fine on the company because of a long list of violations. As part of its legally binding judgment, the regulator in France recognized the tech giant's series of interoperability promises that it proposed as part of a settlement agreement. On this front, the nation enjoys a distinct advantage.

It is also worth noting that until the UK watchdog’s investigation, the Irish Data Protection Commission started to investigate Google’s case after concerns about the leaking of private information. However, the DPC is being sued for failing to respond to complaints dating back to 2018.

The validity of consent/legal basis for the bulk processing of online users' data has been the subject of several EU privacy concerns concerning real-time bidding, and a key ruling by Belgium's data protection regulator earlier this year found a laundry list of faults with an industry-standard framework that might compel some change of some privacy-hostile adtech activities.

To conclude, no one knows at this rate how this princess will end. Some of the experts think that Google will get some warnings and fines as a way to prevent further misunderstandings. Some experts think that Google will win this process and it won't damage the company a lot. So, let’s see what will be in the future and how this investigation will affect the reputation of the behemoth company.