The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to determine whether Google has violated EU competition rules by favoring its online advertising services in the so-called “ad tech” supply chain, to the detriment of advertising technology service providers competitors, advertisers and online publishers.
In particular, the investigation will make it possible to examine whether Google has distorted competition by limiting third party access to user data for advertising purposes on websites and applications, reserving this data for its own use.
“Online advertising services are at the heart of how Google and publishers monetize their online services. Google collects data to be used for targeted advertising purposes, sells advertising space and also acts as an online advertising intermediary. So Google is present at almost every level of the supply chain for online advertising. We are concerned that Google has made it more difficult for rival online advertising services to compete in the so-called ad tech stack, ”said European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager, who is in charge of Competition.
‘A level playing field is essential for everyone in the supply chain. Fair competition is important: both for advertisers to reach consumers on publisher sites and for publishers to sell their space to advertisers, to generate revenue and finance for content. We will also review Google’s user tracking policies to make sure they are in line with fair competition, ”added Vestager. Many publishers rely on online advertisements to fund free online content for consumers. In 2019, spending on online advertising in the EU was estimated at around 20 billion euros.
Google provides several advertising technology services that act as an intermediary between advertisers and publishers to display ads on websites or mobile apps, they explain from Brussels. The Commission’s investigation will focus on advertising where Google offers a range of services to both advertisers and publishers. As part of its in-depth investigation, the Commission will in particular examine the obligation to use the services of Google Display & Video 360 and / or Google Ads to purchase online display ads on YouTube; the obligation to use Google Ad Manager to serve online display ads on YouTube and potential restrictions placed by Google on how competing services of Google Ad Manager are able to serve online ads on YouTube; the apparent facilitation of the DV360 and / or Google Ads Google “AdX” ad exchange and the potential facilitation of the DV360 and / or Google Ads of AdX and finally the restrictions placed by Google on the ability of third parties, such as advertisers, competing online advertising intermediaries, to access the identity or user behavior data available for Google’s advertising intermediation services, including the Doubleclick ID.