Global search giant Google has been very busy lately. On November 28th local time, the Canadian Competition Agency issued a statement stating that it is taking legal action against Google for its anti competitive practices in online advertising technology services in Canada. The statement stated that the investigation found that as Canada's largest online advertising technology provider, Google abused its market dominance by implementing anti competitive behavior, preventing competition from rivals, suppressing innovation, raising advertising costs, and reducing revenue for distribution agencies.
The Canadian Competition Authority stated that they have filed an application with the competition court, requesting Google to sell two advertising technology tools, pay fines, and prohibit Google from continuing to engage in anti competitive behavior. The statement states that the final decision on the event lies with the competition court.
However, Google stated that the complaint "ignores the intense competition faced by advertising buyers and sellers, and we look forward to presenting our position in court.
It is reported that as early as 2020, the Canadian Competition Agency launched an investigation to explore whether Google engaged in practices that harm competition in the online advertising industry, and earlier this year expanded the investigation to Google's advertising technology services. During this period, institutions have stated that they are investigating the possibility of Google using "predatory" pricing in the advertising technology market, which reduces choices in the online display advertising market and hinders innovation.
Facing fines locally in Russia
In fact, it's a wave that hasn't been leveled yet and is rising again. Earlier, Google was embroiled in a local lawsuit in Russia. According to reports, on November 18th local time, the Tagansky District Court in Moscow, Russia, made a ruling that Google had committed an administrative violation by refusing to delete content that violated Russian laws. Google will be fined 3.8 million rubles (approximately 270000 yuan).
On the evening of November 18th, the Tagansky District Court in Moscow once again made a judgment, stating that Google's refusal to delete content that violated Russian laws and regulations was deemed an administrative violation, and a fine of 3.8 million rubles (approximately 270000 yuan) will be imposed on Google. The court fined Google 7.6 million rubles (approximately 550000 yuan) on that day.
In addition, at the beginning of October this year, it was reported that the US Department of Justice had informed the judge accepting the US Google monopoly case that the Justice Department was considering recommending Google to sell some businesses to weaken Google's monopoly position in the Internet search market. At that time, officials from the US Department of Justice made the above suggestion to federal district judge Amit Mehta in a court document, and also suggested that Google should be forced to disclose the underlying data of its search engine and artificial intelligence products.
It is reported that the US Department of Justice launched an antitrust investigation into Google in 2020 and officially sued it in September 2023. In August this year, Mehta ruled that Google took illegal measures to gain monopoly position in the Internet search and advertising market. According to reports, Meta has arranged for the second phase of the trial to begin next spring to determine a legal solution to prevent Google's monopoly, and a ruling is expected to be made by the end of August 2025.
It is disclosed that Google controls about 90% of the US Internet search market.
On November 27th local time, the stock market of Google A closed at $169.23 per share, up 0.07%.