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Canada's competition commission files complaint accusing Google of illegal ad tech market control.
In an attempt to get Google to sell two of its primary advertising technology services, Canada's competition commission filed a complaint on Thursday, accusing the corporation of misusing its tools for purchasing and selling internet advertising in order to establish a control. In a statement, Canada's Bureau of Competition Policy, a law enforcement agency, accused Google of illegally controlling the market by using its position as the biggest supplier of software for buying and selling advertisements, its marketplace for ad auctions, and its ad displaying services.
The bureau stated that the company's actions ensured Google, owned by Alphabet, would "maintain and entrench its market power," noting that it "locks market participants into using its own ad tech tools" and "prevents rivals from competing based on the merits of their offerings."
Along with requesting that the quasi-judicial Competition Tribunal of Canada order Google to sell two of its ad technology services, the bureau will also seek a fine of up to 3% of its global revenues, which came to almost $305 billion last year. (Last year, Google's ad tech services brought in roughly $31 billion globally.) Additionally, it requests that the tribunal prohibit Google from engaging in anti-competitive behavior.
According to the bureau, Google controls 40% to 90% of the Canadian market and owns four of the biggest internet advertising tech companies. According to the bureau, they participate in over 200 billion internet ad sales annually in the nation. Several of such services were established by Google through acquisitions of other businesses.
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