Canada’s Competition Bureau Sues Google

The Competition Bureau of Canada has announced it is suing Google for alleged anti-competitive behaviour in its internet advertising.

In a statement, Competition Bureau Commissioner Matthew Boswell said that Google improperly linked two advertising tools to retain market dominance and utilized this dominating position to rig ad auctions by favouring its tools.

He stated that the Competition Bureau has filed a case with the Competition Tribunal, a court-like independent entity, requiring Google to sell two of its ad technology products.

In a statement, Google stated that the Canadian complaint “ignores the intense competition where ad buyers and sellers have plenty of choice, and we look forward to making our case in court”.

“Our advertising technology tools help websites and apps fund their content, and they enable businesses of all sizes to effectively reach new customers,” said Dan Taylor, vice president of global advertising.

This case focuses on online web adverts, which appear to people when they visit other websites.

Digital ad inventory or the space website publishers make available for sale, is frequently purchased and sold through automated auctions conducted on digital platforms.

These platforms are known as ad tech tools, and the full set of tools utilized during the purchasing process is known as the ad tech stack.

According to the Competition Bureau, an inquiry revealed that Google “abused its dominant position” as Canada’s largest ad tech stack.

“Through a series of calculated decisions taken over multiple years, Google has excluded competitors and entrenched itself at the centre of online advertising,” the Competition Bureau stated in its notice announcing the claim on Thursday.

“Google’s near-total control of the ad-tech [software] is a function of premeditated design and conduct, rather than superior competitive performance or happenstance.”

The agency requested the Competition Tribunal to compel Google to sell two of its ad tech products and pay a fine of up to 3% of the company’s global revenue “to promote compliance” with Canadian competition laws.

Google has 45 days to file a response with the tribunal.

The case comes barely a week after the US Justice Department and a group of states asked that Google sell Chrome, the world’s most popular web browser, as part of a series of measures to prevent the internet behemoth from preserving its monopoly in online search.

The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency that protects and promotes competition for Canadian consumers and businesses. Competition drives lower prices and innovation while fueling economic growth.

The Competition Bureau website states:

The Competition Bureau is taking legal action against Google for anti-competitive conduct in online advertising technology services in Canada. The Bureau has filed an application with the Competition Tribunal for an order that, among other things:

• Requires Google to sell two of its advertising technology tools: its publisher ad server, DFP, and its ad exchange, AdX;
• directs Google to pay an administrative monetary penalty equal to three times the value of the benefit derived from Google’s anti-competitive practices, or if that amount cannot be reasonably determined, 3% of Google’s worldwide gross revenues and
• prohibits Google from continuing to engage in anticompetitive conduct and practices.

The final decision in this matter rests with the Competition Tribunal, independent of the Bureau.

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