The European Commission has formally opened an antitrust probe into a 2018 deal between tech giants Google and Facebook allegedly aimed at cementing their dominance over the online advertising market, reported Bloomberg.
The EU’s executive said it was investigating the so-called “Jedi Blue” agreement to see if it had been used to “restrict and distort competition in the already concentrated ad tech market.”
The European Commission announced its formal antitrust investigation in a press release in which it voiced its concerns that an agreement between the two companies in 2018 may have breached EU competition rules.
Meanwhile, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that the deal may have restricted or prevented the uptake of header bidding services.
The Jedi Blue agreement came under fire in the United States in September 2021, after four members of Congress asked the Justice Department to launch a criminal investigation into whether the pact violated federal antitrust laws.
Header bidding is a service that allows sellers like news publishers to offer their online advertising space to multiple buyers at the same time as opposed to doing so on an individual basis. This makes it so that buyers (or in this case advertisers) must compete against each other for ad space while publishers can compare bids from multiple buyers at the same time.
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
Turkey Fines Meta $10.4 Million for Abusing Market Dominance
May 6, 2024 by
CPI
Canadian Watchdog Launches Inquiry into Lululemon’s Greenwashing Practices
May 6, 2024 by
CPI
Massachusetts Supreme Court Deliberates Ballot Redefining Gig Worker Status
May 6, 2024 by
CPI
European Commission Approves Nippon Steel’s $14.9 Billion Buyout of U.S. Steel
May 6, 2024 by
CPI
Banco Sabadell Rejects Rival BBVA Merger Proposal
May 6, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI