Comment on Canadian competition body sues Google over alleged monopoly

Canada’s antitrust watchdog is taking action against Google over an alleged monopoly in its online advertising operations.  The Competition Bureau said in a press release (Nov. 28) that the big tech giant constructed a system that makes it difficult for smaller operators to enter and compete in the market, with favorable treatment given to its own range of advertising tools. In Canada, Google’s ad network infrastructure includes DoubleClick for Publishers, AdX, Display & Video 360, and Google Ads.  The Bureau has called upon the Competition Tribunal – a body independent of the main legal system – to address the matter by instructing Google to divest two of its core tools and pay a fine of up to 3% of the multinational’s global revenue “to promote compliance” with Canada’s competition regulations.  “Through a series of calculated decisions, taken over the course of multiple years, Google has excluded competitors and entrenched itself at the center of online advertising,” the Competition Bureau detailed in its communication notice announcing the suit on Thursday. The law enforcement agency further alleged Google’s “near-total control” of the ad-tech space had been an outcome of “premeditated design and conduct”, rather than a matter of performance. Last week, the equivalent organization in the United Kingdom was urged to utilize newly invested powers to launch a probe into the alleged duopoly of Apple and Google in the mobile browser market. Google will contest the findings of the Competition Bureau The U.S.