Google’s regulatory issues are growing all over the pond.
The UK competition watchdog said Friday it has launched an investigation into the search giant’s proposals to remove third-party cookies and other features from its Chrome web browser, amid concerns that the move could hurt digital ad rivals.
The Competition and Markets Authority will investigate whether Google’s changes drive more ad spend into its own ecosystem at the expense of its competitors.
Google is also dealing with three antitrust cases in the United States, and has been accused of maintaining monopolies through “multiple forms of anti-competitive behavior in the general search and search advertising markets”.
Google’s technology called the ‘Privacy Sandbox’ project allows users to be targeted with ads without tracking every person on the web. The watchdog has received complaints from a coalition of technology and publishing houses accusing Google of “abusing its dominant position” in the industry.
“As the CMA discovered in its recent market research, Google’s Privacy Sandbox proposals will potentially have a major impact on publishers such as newspapers and the digital advertising market,” said CMA chief Andrea Coscelli.
Cookies allow advertisers to target consumers with personalized ads and enable newspapers and other sites to offer their content for free.
“[Google] could undermine publishers’ ability to monetize and undermine competition in digital advertising, anchoring Google’s market power, ”adds Coscelli.
Other browsers, including Firefox and Apple’s Safari, have already blocked third-party cookies, and Google claims it is making the change to protect consumer privacy.
“In order to create a more private web, while empowering the publishers and advertisers who support the free and open web, the industry must make major changes in the way digital ads work,” said a Google spokeswoman.
“We welcome the involvement of the CMA as we work to develop new proposals to support a healthy, ad-supported web without third-party cookies.”
The CMA said it will work with the UK data watchdog in the investigation.
Shares of Google were stable during Friday morning trading.
The investigation comes two months after a group of 165 companies and industry associations called on European Union antitrust enforcement officials to crack down on the search giant, accusing it of using its market dominance to favor its own services in Internet searches.