The ACCC published the interim report of its inquiry into digital advertising services.
A market lacking competition: On 28 January 2021, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) published the interim report of its digital advertising services inquiry. The ACCC found Google to be dominant since its revenue share ranges from 50% to 100%, depending on the service. This gives Google the ability to preference its own ad tech businesses in ways that affect competition.
What are the possible remedies? The ACCC proposed possible remedies to tackle Google’s dominance. These include rules to prevent self-preferencing, proposals to enhance the ability of ad tech providers to assess price and quality of the services, boosting data portability and interoperability, and mandating the break-up of datasets of large incumbents. The ACCC is seeking input on the interim report until 26 February 2021.
A stand-off with regulators in Australia: The findings of the ACCC come at a time when Google is advocating against the introduction of a News Media Bargaining Code, which the ACCC drafted under direction from the Government following the digital platforms inquiry it completed in 2019. The Code will require Facebook and Google to remunerate news publishers for links and snippets that appear in searches. Google has said it would have to stop providing search services in Australia should the code be adopted in its current form.
