UK Investigating Google Over Its Ad Business Dominance That It Claims To Restrict Competitors

Google is again facing investigations regarding its dominance in the advertising market. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Google is again facing an investigation regarding its dominance in the advertising market by the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) aka competition supervisor in the UK.

CMA suspects whether Google is using its advantage to illegally endorse its own services over competing services. This is the second active investigation into Google's ad technology practices.

"We will continue to work with CMA to answer their questions and share details about how our system works. Advertising tools from Google and many competitors help websites and apps fund their content and help businesses of all sizes effectively reach their customers," the representative said. Google.

"Google's tools alone have supported around £55 billion in economic activity for more than 700,000 businesses in the UK, and when publishers choose to use our advertising services, they retain most of the revenue."

Further, the CMA investigation will also look at how ad technology stacks up, the service that allows online ad slots to be bought and sold. It has been divided into three parts.

These include demand-side platforms, which are where advertisers buy online ad space, ad exchanges where companies buy ads and ad servers to choose which ads to appear on websites.

According to the CMA, UK advertisers spent around £1.8 billion on this type of online advertising in 2019.

"We are concerned that Google may use its position in ad technology to support its own services to the detriment of its competitors, its customers and ultimately consumers," said CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli.

"It's imperative that we continue to research the behavior of the technology companies that shadow our lives and ensure the best possible outcomes for people and businesses across the UK."

If Google is found to have violated competition laws, the CMA may choose to launch a subsequent investigation under the 1998 Competition Act, and find a violation of the law, the company may be subject to a fine of up to 10 percent of Google's worldwide turnover.