[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] Italy's antitrust authority has launched an investigation into the American internet company Google for abusing its dominant market position in the online advertising market.
Local media, including the daily La Repubblica, reported on the 28th (local time) that the investigation is focused on the display advertising sector, which appears in the form of photos, videos, and graphics on smartphone applications or websites.
The local regulatory authority stated that it is examining whether Google hindered fair competition by excluding competitors using the extensive data collected on its own platform as a weapon.
As of last year, the size of Italy's online advertising market was 3.3 billion euros (approximately 4.3951 trillion KRW), with display advertising accounting for 36% of the total (about 1.2 billion euros).
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