Canada’s Competition Bureau is suing Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google over alleged anti-competitive conduct in online advertising, the antitrust watchdog said on Thursday.
The Competition Bureau, in a statement, said it had filed an application with the Competition Tribunal seeking an order that, among other things, requires Google to sell two of its ad tech tools. It is also seeking a penalty from Google to promote compliance with Canada’s competition laws, the statement said.Google said the complaint “ignores the intense competition where ad buyers and sellers have plenty of choice and we look forward to making our case in court.”
“Our advertising technology tools help websites and apps fund their content, and enable businesses of all sizes to effectively reach new customers,” Dan Taylor, VP of Global Ads, Google said in a statement.
The Competition Bureau opened an investigation in 2020 to probe whether the search engine giant had engaged in practices that harm competition in the online ads industry, and expanded the probe to include Google’s advertising technology services earlier this year.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/technology/canadas-antitrust-watchdog-sues-google-alleging-anti-competitive-conduct-2024-11-28/