EU, UK open probe into Google-Meta ad deal

The investigation concerns a September 2018 agreement, which Google code-named “Jedi Blue”, between Google and Meta for the participation of Meta’s Audience Network in Google’s Open Bidding programme….reports Asian Lite News

The European Union and the UK antitrust authorities have launched parallel probes to assess whether an agreement between Google and Meta for online display advertising services may have breached the Union’s competition rules.

The investigation concerns a September 2018 agreement, which Google code-named “Jedi Blue”, between Google and Meta for the participation of Meta’s Audience Network in Google’s Open Bidding programme.

The Commission is concerned that the agreement may form part of efforts to exclude ad tech services competing with Google’s Open Bidding programme, and therefore restrict or distort competition in markets for online display advertising, to the detriment of publishers, and ultimately consumers.

If proven, the practices under investigation may breach EU competition rules on anticompetitive agreements between companies (Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and/or the abuse of a dominant position (Article 102 TFEU).

“Many publishers rely on online display advertising to fund online content for consumers. Via the so-called ‘Jedi Blue’ agreement between Google and Meta, a competing technology to Google’s Open Bidding may have been targeted with the aim to weaken it and exclude it from the market for displaying ads on publisher websites and apps,” Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said in a statement.

“If confirmed by our investigation, this would restrict and distort competition in the already concentrated ad tech market, to the detriment of rival ad serving technologies, publishers and ultimately consumers,” Vestager added.

Google provides advertising technology services that intermediate between advertisers and publishers by real time auctioning of online display advertising space on web sites or mobile apps, including through its ‘Open Bidding programme’.

Meanwhile, Meta provides online display advertising services and, through its ‘Meta Audience Network’, participates in auctions for third party publishers’ advertising space using Google’s and rivals’ advertising technology services.

The Commission said it will now carry out its in-depth investigation as a matter of priority. The opening of a formal investigation does not prejudge its outcome.

The UK’s Competition Market Authority (CMA) has launched its own investigation into the agreement between Google and Meta. As is customary, the Commission has been in contact with the CMA and intends to closely cooperate on this investigation following the applicable rules and procedures.

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