TOP NEWS: UK and EU regulators investigate Google-Facebook ad pact

(Alliance News) - The UK Competition & Markets Authority on Friday said it and the European ...

Alliance News 11 March, 2022 | 10:20AM
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(Alliance News) - The UK Competition & Markets Authority on Friday said it and the European Commission are launching parallel investigations into Alphabet's Google and Meta Platforms' Facebook over competition concerns.

The CMA said it will look into whether Google and Facebook hampered market competition in online display advertising services.

The probe will cover header bidding - a service which allows vendors of advertising space to offer to multiple buyers instead of one at a time. This results in competition between buyers of advertising space, and means publishers can compare multiple bids at the same time. The service can make online auctions more competitive, the CMA said.

The CMA will assess whether an agreement between Google and Meta broke the law.

The alleged pact, made in 2018, intended to "kill" an advertising tool used by Facebook that posed a competitive threat to Google's own advertising. This was in trade for Google granting Facebook advantages in online ad auctions routed through its technology. The agreement was reportedly codenamed 'Jedi Blue' internally by Google. This is according to antitrust court filings against Google in multiple US states in 2021.

"We're concerned that Google may have teamed up with Meta to put obstacles in the way of competitors who provide important online display advertising services to publishers," said CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli.

The CMA will seek to "work closely" with the European Commission, as the two develop independent investigations. The CMA said the UK government had proposed powers for a Digital Markets Unit, which would be responsible for enforcing legal codes on "big tech" firms.

"We will not shy away from scrutinising the behaviour of big tech firms while we await powers for the Digital Markets Unit," Coscelli continued.

The CMA said it continues its investigations into Meta's use of data and into Google's mobile ecosystems. It recently accepted Google's commitments to address concerns over the proposed removal of third-party cookies from its Chrome browser.

Meta's share price closed down 1.7% to USD195.21 each in New York on Thursday, and was marginally lower in pre-market trading on Friday.

Alphabet's Class A shares closed down 0.7% to USD2,648.59 each in New York on Thursday and were down 0.1% in the pre-market. C shares closed down 0.9% to USD2,653.64 each and were up 0.1% early Friday.

By Elizabeth Winter; elizabethwinter@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.

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Security Name Price Change (%) Morningstar
Rating
Meta Platforms Inc Class A 563.09 USD -0.43

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