Google started the week off with another complaint.
This time, it’s a group of German publishers and advertisers who are demanding that the European Union (EU) stop the search giant’s plan to end the use of third-party cookies, The Financial Times reported on Monday (Jan. 24).
Politico publisher Axel Springer and hundreds of publishers, advertisers and media groups have filed a complaint with Margrethe Vestager, the European commissioner for competition. It alleges Google is violating EU law with its decision to end the third-party cookies from the Chrome browser within the next year.
The result, critics said, will prevent advertisers, publishers and others from analyzing user preferences as they browse content online. It would a kill how the sectors generate revenue, they allege.
Axel Springer was joined by others, including the German Federal Association of Digital Publishers, according to a 108-page complaint. They allege Google’s planned changes will hurt their businesses by allowing the search giant to collect user data in ways that won’t impact their ad-based search business.
The complaint is the latest effort to try to force an investigation into Google, which could result in fines of up to 10% of global revenues. The tech giant has already been hit by more than 8 billion euros ($9 billion) in fines across three different antitrust cases since 2012.
In response, Google said that many other platforms and browsers have stopped supporting third-party cookies, while Google is the only one to do it openly and in consultation with regulators.
The complaint comes as the Senate Judiciary Committee voted last week to advance the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. The bipartisan measure aims at preventing Big Tech firms from favoring their own services over others.
Read more: Big Tech’s Three Biggest Regulatory Threats
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