This week, the Google advertising business faced a series of legal challenges. Firstly, the company was hit with a lawsuit in Europe amounting to € 2.1 billion. Additionally, Canadian regulators escalated their scrutiny, suspecting Google of leveraging its dominant market position to stifle competition.
The Canadian Competition Bureau announced that it had mandated Google to produce documents related to its advertising operations. This directive marked the culmination of a 4-year investigation in Canada aimed at analyzing Google’s conduct in the advertising sector. Regulators seek to determine if Google utilized its market dominance to disadvantage competitors.
Of particular interest is the allegation that Google may have engaged in discriminatory pricing strategies, potentially rendering competition economically unviable. The bureau is seeking further information to ascertain whether Google’s actions have resulted in heightened prices for consumers or impeded competition within the advertising industry.
As of now, the investigation remains ongoing, with no definitive findings of wrongdoing. Google maintains that its advertising business not only does not harm competition but actually “assists millions of websites in thriving.”
In parallel, Google is facing a legal challenge from over 30 European media organizations demanding € 2.1 billion for alleged anti-competitive practices in advertising technologies. The publishers claim that Google’s technology has led to revenue losses and increased costs for customers.