US tech titan Google employs “anti-competitive practices” with regards to online advertising, Britain’s competition watchdog concluded Friday in provisional findings of a two-year long investigation.
The probe has focused on so-called ad tech — the system that decides which online adverts people see and how much they cost.
The US Department of Justice and European Commission are carrying out similar investigations into Google.
In Britain, the Competition and Markets Authority “provisionally found that Google is using anti-competitive practices in open-display ad tech, which it believes could be harming thousands of UK publishers and advertisers”, the CMA said in a statement Friday.
The regulator, which launched its probe in May 2022, said it would “carefully consider representations from Google before reaching its final decision”.
– ‘Flawed interpretation’ –
In a statement to media on Friday, Google VP of Global Ads, Dan Taylor, said the CMA’s “case rests on flawed interpretations of the ad tech sector.
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