Canada's competition authority has announced it is taking Google to court, accusing the company of "anti-competitive behaviour" in online advertising.
Typically, ads are bought and sold through automated auctions and run by businesses using ad tech - a system that also determines which online ads people see when they visit websites.
The Competition Bureau investigation found that Google is the largest provider of these tools in Canada.
Commissioner Matthew Boswell said in a statement that it "abused its dominant position ... by taking actions that forced market participants to use its own ad tech tools."
The watchdog has accused Google of giving its own tools preferential access to ad inventory, sometimes selling ads at a loss to block competitors, and dictating the terms of use for foreign ad tech tools.
Boswell said it would ask the tribunal to level the playing field by forcing Google to sell two of its ad tech tools and pay an unspecified penalty.
Google spokesman Dan Taylor said the company was prepared to fight the charges, which he said "ignore the intense competition (in this sector) where ad buyers and sellers have a lot of choice".
In June 2021, the French competition authority fined Google €220 million for favouring its own services in the online advertising sector.
Google's advertising practices are also the subject of investigations or proceedings in the UK, EU and US.
This week, the tech giant and the US government faced a federal court in a case that revolves around Google's alleged unfair dominance in online advertising.
If the judge finds Google guilty, a new phase of the trial will decide how the company should comply with that conclusion. | BGNES
