Following the U.S. Department of Justice’s demand for Google to divest its Chrome browser business and potentially its Android operations, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into Google’s search and advertising services. This move comes in the wake of the Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers Act (DMCC), which officially took effect on January 1. The inquiry aims to determine whether Google’s practices constitute monopolistic behavior.
The CMA’s investigation will focus on whether Google’s services stifle innovation among competitors, provide unfair advantages to its own platforms, or involve the unauthorized collection and use of personal user data.
The CMA highlighted that Google’s search engine commands approximately 90% of market share and attracts over 200,000 UK advertisers. The investigation seeks to ascertain whether Google’s dominance in these areas has adversely impacted market competition and whether its actions amount to monopolistic conduct.
Under the DMCC, companies with global revenues exceeding £25 billion or UK revenues exceeding £1 billion are classified as large enterprises. If these companies’ digital activities in specific domains wield significant influence over market dynamics, they are considered to be engaging in monopolistic practices.
Given this framework, Google’s dominance in search and advertising is likely to be deemed a significant influence on market development. As a result, the CMA may require Google to share collected data with competitors or grant other companies greater control over how their data is utilized by Google.
The CMA has requested Google to submit its response by February 3 and plans to conclude its investigation within a maximum of nine months.
Related Posts:
- IBM’s HashiCorp Acquisition Under Scrutiny: CMA Investigates Competition Concerns
- Inside China’s State-Sponsored Hacking Competitions: Talent Spotting and Global Outreach
