Brit watchdog probes Google's search, ads empire

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the latest regulator investigating Google's position in the search and search advertising business.

The UK's new digital markets competition regime came into force on January 1. It gave the country's competition watchdog new powers aimed at curbing the market dominance of the tech giants via strategic market status (SMS).

To be deemed of strategic significance, a business must have a global turnover of £25 billon ($30.4 billion) or generate £1 billion (£1.21 billion) in the UK.

Google's activities are the first to come under the gaze of the CMA as it launched an SMS designation investigation into the company's position in search and search advertising services, and the impact this has on consumers and businesses.

Google is under regulatory scrutiny around the world. The company has faced multiple lawsuits in the US over alleged monopolization of online search and threats to force it to divest itself of the Chrome browser by the US Department of Justice's antitrust division.

The company also managed to dodge a €1.5 billion ads antitrust fine from the European Commission after an appeal ruled in the company's favor. However, it paid a €2.42 billion fine levied against it in 2017 for abusing its search dominance.

The CMA has already rapped Google's knuckles for alleged abuse of the company's dominant position in the advertising technology marketplace.

As well as noting the "significant benefits" in the UK provided by Google's services, the CMA said that Google accounted for more than 90 percent of all general search inquiries in the country and that more than 200,000 UK advertisers used Google's search advertising.

The CMA said: "Given the importance of search as a key digital service for people, businesses, and the economy, it is critical that competition works well."

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The investigation will include considering if Google is using its market power to self-preference its own services, an assessment of how competition is working, and looking into the collection of consumer data without informed consent. The CMA will also be looking into Google's new AI services and "answer engines."

A Google spokesperson told The Register: "People across the UK trust Google Search to help them find what they need. Google Search supports millions of UK businesses to grow by reaching customers in innovative ways.

"The CMA's announcement today recognizes that: 'Search is vital for economic growth.' We will continue to engage constructively with the CMA to ensure that new rules benefit all types of websites, and still allow people in the UK to benefit from helpful and cutting-edge services."

Google also posted a blog to emphasize the point, and called for a "pro-innovation, evidence-based regime" in Britain.

Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said: "It's our job to ensure people get the full benefit of choice and innovation in search services and get a fair deal – for example, in how their data is collected and stored. And for businesses, whether you are a rival search engine, an advertiser or a news organization, we want to ensure there is a level playing field for all businesses, large and small, to succeed."

Today's launch of the SMS investigation is the start of a months-long process with a statutory deadline for a decision on October 13. Although a decision proposal will come earlier, Google will have an opportunity to make representations on it. ®