Italy’s antitrust authority is examining Google for suspected abuse of its leading position in the country’s online display ad market.
The investigation follows a complaint registered by IAB in 2019 and adds to the regulatory inspection that Google is facing globally.
The watchdog has said that it has suspected that the tech giant is using massive amounts of data collected via its own apps to avert competing operators from contending efficiently. It said that it carried out examinations of some Google offices on 27th October.
A spokesman from google in Italy has said that the company was working beneficially with the Italian establishments.
Image from Google
The spokesperson has added that the tech giant’s policy changes on which the watchdog was concentrating were moderately targeted at squaring EU privacy law with how its promotion tools function.
The executive director of the European Publishers’ Council, greeted the Italian examination, which must be finished by November 2021. She said that google’s unparalleled position hit publishers and, eventually, their readers as less advertising revenue results in less outlay in journalism.
The Italian online ad market has made a revenue of 3.3 billion euros in 2019, with display advertising, like banner advertisements, accounting for approximately 37%.
