Australia watchdog calls for curbs on Google’s power to use data for targeted ads
- Australia’s antitrust watchdog says Google benefits from vast amounts of internet user data from its search engine
- Some 9 in 10 click on ads that passed through Australia’s ‘ad tech’ supply chain went through at least one Google-owned service in 2020, the watchdog found
Australia’s antitrust watchdog has called for powers to curb Google’s use of internet data to sell targeted ads, joining other regulators in saying the firm dominates the market to the point of hurting publishers, advertisers and consumers.
The comments, in a report published on Tuesday, puts Australia alongside Europe and Britain where regulators want to stop the Alphabet Inc unit trouncing rival advertisers by using the data it collects from people’s online searches – including on maps and YouTube – to place marketing material.
The US justice department is meanwhile preparing an anti-monopoly lawsuit accusing Google of using its market muscle to hobble advertising rivals, according to media reports.
“The Europeans and the UK are consulting on such laws at the moment and we’re going to be trying to align with them over the next year,” said Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chair Rod Sims. “I don’t think we’re far behind.”
Already this year Google said it was poised to withdraw core services from Australia over a law – also recommended by the ACCC – forcing it to pay media companies for content that drives traffic to its search engine. It ultimately signed deals with most major outlets.
A Google spokesman was not immediately available for comment about the advertising action. In a blog post published shortly before the ACCC report, Google said its advertising technology supported over 15,000 Australian jobs and contributed US$2.45 billion a year to Australia’s economy annually.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who commissioned the report, said the government would consider its findings and recommendations.