Competition Bureau suing Google for alleged anti-competitive ad practices

The Competition Bureau is suing Google for allegedly engaging in anti-competitive conduct in the online advertising market. The Canadian competition watchdog is accusing the company of exploiting its dominance in the market of advertising technology tools to give itself an unfair advantage. The bureau has filed with Canada’s Competition Tribunal, asking it to force Google to sell off two of its ad tech tools, pay a fine, and ban Google from continuing the alleged conduct. The bureau made the announcement Thursday after a years-long investigation into Google’s advertising practices. “The Competition Bureau conducted an extensive investigation that found that Google has abused its dominant position in online advertising in Canada by engaging in conduct that locks market participants into using its own ad tech tools, excluding competitors and distorting the competitive process,” alleged Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell in a news release. “Google's conduct has prevented rivals from being able to compete on the merits of what they have to offer, to the detriment of Canadian advertisers, publishers, and consumers,” Boswell alleged. "We are taking our case to the tribunal to stop this conduct and its harmful effects in Canada.” According to the Competition Bureau, in the world of online web advertising, publishers often sell ad space on their websites to advertisers through automated auctions, using platforms known as ad tech tools. The collection of tools used throughout the buy-and-sell process are known as the ad tech stack. “No other single ad tech provider has Google’s scale or reach across the ad tech stack, with over 200 billion Canadian web ad transactions flowing through Google’s ad tech tools in 2022,” said the bureau, stating that the company owns four of the largest online ad tech services used in Canada. The Competition Bureau alleges that Google tied its buying and selling tools together to maintain its market dominance, distorting auction dynamics by “giving its own tools preferential access to ad inventory, taking negative margins in certain circumstances to disadvantage rivals, and dictating the terms on which its own publisher customers could transact with rival ad tech tools.” “The bureau’s position is that Google’s near-total control of the ad tech stack is by design,” it alleged. The bureau is asking the tribunal to issue an order that requires Google to sell off its publisher ad server, DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), as well its ad exchange, AdX. It also wants Google to pay a monetary penalty equal to three times the value of the benefit derived from the alleged anti-competitive practices, or 3 per cent of Google’s worldwide gross revenues; and for Google to be prohibited from continuing to engage in the alleged anti-competitive conduct. In a statement to The Wire Report, Google’s vice president of global ads Dan Taylor challenged the accusations. “Our advertising technology tools help websites and apps fund their content, and enable businesses of all sizes to effectively reach new customers. Google remains committed to creating value for our publisher and advertiser partners in this highly competitive sector. The complaint ignores the intense competition where ad buyers and sellers have plenty of choice and we look forward to making our case in court,” Taylor stated. Anti-monopoly organization pleased “This is fantastic,” said Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project (CAMP) executive director Keldon Bester in an interview with The Wire Report. “It’s important that the bureau is moving quickly after it announced it expanded the investigation earlier this year. But even more important is what the bureau is aiming for, in particular the structural remedy,” said Bester, referring to the bureau’s push to force Google to sell two of its platforms. “ really shows that the bureau is understanding that we need to, not just fine companies, but to go after the tools that allow them to engage in this kind of anti-competitive conduct," Bester alleged. None of the allegations has been tested in court. phalentm@thewirereport.ca

Competition Bureau suing Google for alleged anti-competitive ad practices

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By Phalen Tynes-MacDonald
| November 28, 2024

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Competition Bureau suing Google for alleged anti-competitive ad practices

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By Phalen Tynes-MacDonald
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