After Europe and the United States, it is Canada’s turn to sue Google for its behavior deemed “anti-competitive” in the field of online advertising. The Competition Bureau announced late Thursday that it is taking legal action by filing an application with the Competition Tribunal “following a thorough investigation.”
Posted at 4:18 p.m.
Updated at 4:48 p.m.
The heart of the accusations are the advertisements that are displayed to Internet users when they visit websites. These ads are sent through an automated auction system largely dominated by Google. However, according to the Competition Bureau’s investigation, Google “abused its dominant position by adopting behavior aimed at guaranteeing the maintenance and consolidation of its commercial power”.
“Google’s behavior coerces market participants into using its own ad technology tools, prevents rivals from being able to compete on the merits of their offerings, and distorts the competitive process,” the statement read. of the Competition Bureau.
Sales at a loss
Google is more specifically criticized for having linked its various advertising tools to ensure its domination. It is also estimated that the search engine giant took advantage of this supremacy to “distort the dynamics of the auctions” by favoring its own tools in particular. “In certain circumstances”, Google is accused of having sold advertising inventory at a loss “to disadvantage its rivals”. Finally, Google is accused of having dictated its conditions to its customers who wanted to carry out transactions with rival advertising tools.
The Bureau believes that Google, by engaging in this anticompetitive behavior, was able to consolidate its dominant position, prevent rivals from competing, inhibit innovation, inflate advertising costs, and reduce publishers’ revenues.
Extract from the Competition Bureau press release
The Competition Bureau is asking the Tribunal, first, to order Google to sell two of its advertising technology tools. We also want him to order the American giant to pay a penalty of an undetermined amount, and to prohibit it from engaging in anti-competitive practices.
In an email sent to The PressGoogle defended its advertising tools, which “help websites and apps finance their content, and allow businesses of all sizes to reach new customers effectively.”
“Google remains committed to creating value for our publisher and advertiser partners in this highly competitive industry,” said Dan Taylor, vice president of Worldwide Advertising at Google. The BCC’s complaint ignores the intense competition where buyers and sellers of advertising space are spoiled for choice and we are prepared to plead our case in court. »
Decision pending
Canada is far from being the first country to attack Google’s advertising practices. In 2019, the European Union imposed a fine of 1.49 billion euros (C$2.2 billion) for its online advertising activities. After five years of appeal, the Court of Justice of the EU overturned this decision in September 2024.
In the United States, a Washington judge last August found Google guilty of anti-competitive practices concerning its search engine. The US government asked the courts last November for Google to divest itself of its Chrome browser.
A second lawsuit concerning its advertising practices was opened last September in Virginia federal court. It was completed at the end of November. The judge’s decision is expected in the coming weeks.
According to the Violation Tracker Global website, Google and Alphabet have been fined 57 times since 2011, 20 times for anti-competitive practices, 19 times in connection with data confidentiality.
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- 307.4 billion
- Revenues of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, in 2023. In total, 78% comes from advertising.
Alphabet financial report 2023
