A Google spokesperson told the National Post in a statement Thursday that Canadian businesses choose to use the company’s advertising products because of their effectiveness and reliability.
“As we have previously stated, the advertising technology industry is highly competitive and constantly evolving, reducing costs and increasing consumer choice,” the statement said.
“We continue to engage constructively with the Competition Bureau of Canada to demonstrate the benefits of our products to Canadian businesses and consumers.”
In a submission to last year’s Competition Bureau consultation on the future of Canada’s competition policy, News Media Canada, which represents publishers (including Postmedia, publisher of the National Post newspaper), said Canada said that no single company could afford to wield so much market power.
“Advertisers and publishers alike are in for a tough deal when it comes to ad tech,” the filing said.
“Optionality and real provider choice are needed not only for the market to function properly, but also to ensure business continuity in the event of an ad tech outage.”
Vas Bednar, executive director of McMaster University’s Digital Society and Public Policy master’s program, said he was encouraged to see the department’s investigation progressing well.
“I think a lot of people were expecting more commentary on big technology and competition from competition regulators, but instead we’re seeing it with increasing frequency internationally,” she said.
Bednar said the court order suggests the agency is keenly aware of what it wants from Google, “but the fact that it’s getting it through a court order… “It means the company is not spewing it out voluntarily.”
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The bureau obtained its first court order against Google in October 2021, saying at the time that it would “closely monitor developments regarding Google’s ongoing conduct, including the findings of its international counterparts.”
Google was investigated by the bureau in 2016 for alleged anticompetitive conduct, including manipulating search, blocking advertisers from running cross-platform ad campaigns, and favoring Google’s own services such as Google Maps and Google Flights. was the last one. of our competitors.
The case was discontinued after investigators concluded there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations.
Last March, Canadian news publishers called on the federal government to end Google’s dominance of the online advertising market and called for Canada to follow the United States and sue Google.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice joined forces with attorneys general from eight states to file a civil lawsuit against Google, alleging that the tech giant’s online advertising monopoly violates antitrust laws.
News Media Canada called on the government to give the Competition Bureau the tools and powers it needs to prohibit anti-competitive behavior by companies.
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