Because of possible distortion of competition in online advertising, the EU Commission is investigating the Facebook group Meta and the company Google. An agreement between the companies could aim to exclude competition, said EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, responsible for competition, on Friday. Google rejected the suspicion.
Google and Meta are competitors in the online advertising market. According to an agreement from 2018, Facebook also takes part in auctions for ad space on a Google platform. For example, Google auctions online advertising space on websites or in apps in real time via the Open Bidding system.
Facebook's Audience Network platform is taking part. In the agreement, Facebook is said to have received a preferred position in Google's online auctions for advertising space. Google is the undisputed market leader in online advertising on websites and in apps.
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The Commission's antitrust watchdogs fear that the cooperation could weaken competing technologies and exclude them from the display advertising market. These include, for example, classic banners that are displayed on websites, but also pop-ups or other graphic advertising elements on websites.
The British antitrust authority CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) also announced that investigations had been initiated against Google and Meta on suspicion of distorting competition. "We're concerned that Google may have partnered with Meta to impede competitors who provide operators with essential services for displaying advertising across the web," said CMA chief Andrea Coscelli.
A Google spokesman countered that the claims about the agreement were false. Facebook's Audience Network doesn't get any benefits that would help the service win auctions. The deal, on the other hand, increases competition.
In the United States, several states are already taking legal action against the deal. Among other things, they refer to the fact that Facebook has stamped out the development of its own competing platform with the agreement.
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