Vestager Says Google Faces “Very Large Investigation” In Ads

Google is facing a ‘very large investigation’ into its advertising business, the EU’s competition commissioner has said. 

Margrethe Vestager issued the warning during an online event on Friday which was reported by Bloomberg. She said that an investigation was being carried out into the ‘Google ads ecosystem’.

The EU had been investigating Google’s data practices since 2019 and recently widened the scope of its probe to look at Google’s plans to phase out third-party cookies.

Ms Vestager has already slapped Google with billions of pounds worth of fines for breaching competition laws and thwarting rivals of shopping comparison websites.

Her latest warning comes after news emerged in January that the UK’s competition watchdog would probe the firm amid claims it is using its Chrome browser to abuse its position as the dominant power in searches and browsing.

The Competition and Markets Authority launched a blockbuster antitrust probe after publishers said the tech giant’s controversial ‘sandbox’ privacy project will allow the US company to ‘distort’ the market, hoard customers’ data and cream off more cash. 

Antitrust laws are regulations which encourage competition by limiting the market power of any particular firm. 

The investigation was set to assess whether the possible removal of third-party cookies and other functionalities from Chrome could be anti-competitive and further hit UK businesses by decimating their online ad revenues.

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