Google Accused of Abusing Market Dominance in Digital Advertising

Alphabet's Google is under scrutiny from Britain's antitrust regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA provisionally found that Google may have abused its power in digital advertising by suppressing competition.

The allegations focus on Google's preference for its own ad exchange which potentially affects thousands of UK publishers and advertisers. The CMA believes that Google's dominance could be interfering with the advertisement customers see on websites.

Google has disagreed with the CMA's claims, arguing that their advertising tools support websites and businesses of all sizes.

The tech giant is also facing investigations by the US Department of Justice and the European Commission.

The CMA alleges that Google's abusive behaviour can be traced back to 2015, favouring its own ad exchange, AdX, in operations.

The regulator has the authority to impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover and can issue legally binding orders to cease the infringement.

Google's representations will be evaluated, says the CMA, before deciding further action.

- CyberBeat