TORONTO– Canada’s antitrust watchdog said Thursday it is suing Google for alleged anticompetitive behavior in the tech giant’s online advertising business and wants the company to sell two of its ad tech services and pay a penalty .
The Competition Bureau said such a measure is necessary because an investigation into Google found that the company “illegally” linked its ad technology tools to maintain its dominant market position.
The matter is now before the Competition Tribunal, a quasi-judicial body that hears cases brought by the Competition Commissioner regarding non-compliance with the Competition Act.
The bureau is asking the court to order Google to sell its publisher ad server, DoubleClick for Publishers, and its ad exchange, AdX. He estimates that Google has a 90% market share in publisher ad servers, 70% in advertiser networks, 60% in demand-side platforms and 50% in ad exchanges.
This dominance, according to the bureau, has discouraged competition from rivals, stunted innovation, inflated advertising costs and reduced publishers’ revenues.
“Google has abused its dominant position in online advertising in Canada by engaging in conduct that forces market participants to use its own ad technology tools, thereby excluding its competitors and distorting the competitive process,” said Matthew Boswell, Commissioner of Competition, in a press release.
Google maintains, however, that the online advertising market is a highly competitive sector.
Dan Taylor, Google’s vice president of worldwide ads, said in a statement that the bureau’s complaint “ignores the intense competition where ad buyers and sellers are spoiled for choice.”
The statement added that Google intends to defend itself against this allegation.
US regulators want a federal judge to break up Google to stop the company from continuing to crush competition through its dominant search engine, after a court ruled it had maintained an abusive monopoly over the past decade .
The proposed breakup, published in a 23-page document filed this month by the U.S. Department of Justice, calls for tough sanctions that would include the sale of Google’s industry-leading Chrome web browser and impose restrictions on prevent Android from favoring its own search engine. .
