Google Faces Antitrust Lawsuit in Canada... "Must Divest Some Software"

Google, facing antitrust regulatory pressure from the U.S. government, has been sued in Canada for monopolizing the online advertising market.

On the 28th (local time), according to foreign media including Bloomberg News, Canadian antitrust authorities announced that they filed a lawsuit in a Canadian court, accusing Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising market. The allegation is that Google illegally bundled software products related to advertising transactions, thereby harming fair market competition.

Canadian authorities stated, "Google excluded competitors through a series of calculated decisions and positioned itself at the center of the online advertising market," adding, "Google's near-total control over the ad tech market is the result of deliberate design and conduct."

Canadian authorities argued that Google should divest some software products. Representative examples include 'DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP),' a server that manages ad spaces for web and application (app) publishers, and 'Ad Exchange (AdX),' an ad exchange connecting advertisers and publishers. They also stated that Google should pay fines amounting to three times the revenue earned through these or 3% of Google's global sales.

Canadian authorities began investigating Google's online advertising practices in 2020 and expanded the scope of the investigation to include Google's ad tech services earlier this year.

Google has signaled it will contest the lawsuit. Dan Taylor, Vice President of Google's Global Advertising Division, said, "(The Canadian authorities) ignored the highly competitive environment where many buyers and sellers of advertising have numerous choices." A similar investigation regarding Google's advertising practices is also underway in the United Kingdom.

Earlier, Google lost an antitrust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in August concerning the online search market. Consequently, the U.S. Department of Justice recently requested the court to order Google to divest its web browser, Chrome, as a remedy to resolve the monopoly.