Canada sues Google, alleges anticompetitive practices in online ads

toronto — 

Canada's antitrust watchdog said Thursday that it was suing Google implicit alleged anticompetitive behaviour successful the tech giant's online advertizing concern and that it wanted the institution to merchantability disconnected 2 of its advertisement tech services and wage a penalty.

The Competition Bureau said specified enactment was indispensable due to the fact that an probe into Google recovered that the institution unlawfully tied unneurotic its advertisement tech tools to support its ascendant marketplace position.

The substance is present headed for the Competition Tribunal, a quasi-judicial assemblage that hears cases brought guardant by the contention commissioner astir noncompliance with the Competition Act.

The bureau is asking the tribunal to bid Google to merchantability its steadfast advertisement server, DoubleClick for Publishers, and its advertisement exchange, AdX. It estimates Google holds a marketplace stock of 90% successful steadfast advertisement servers, 70% successful advertiser networks, 60% successful demand-side platforms and 50% successful advertisement exchanges.

This dominance, the bureau said, has discouraged contention from rivals, inhibited innovation, inflated advertizing costs and reduced steadfast revenues.

"Google has abused its ascendant presumption successful online advertizing successful Canada by engaging successful behaviour that locks marketplace participants into utilizing its ain advertisement tech tools, excluding competitors and distorting the competitory process," Matthew Boswell, commissioner of competition, said successful a statement.

Google, however, maintains the online advertizing marketplace is simply a highly competitory sector.

Dan Taylor, Google's vice president of planetary ads, said successful a connection that the bureau's ailment "ignores the aggravated contention wherever advertisement buyers and sellers person plentifulness of choice."

The connection added that Google intends to support itself against the allegation.

U.S. regulators privation a national justice to interruption up Google to forestall the institution from continuing to squash contention done its ascendant hunt motor aft a tribunal recovered it had maintained an abusive monopoly implicit the past decade.

The projected breakup, floated successful a 23-page papers filed this period by the U.S. Department of Justice, calls for sweeping punishments that would see a merchantability of Google's industry-leading Chrome web browser and restrictions to forestall Android from favoring its ain hunt engine.