On Friday 11 March the European Commission decided to open a formal antitrust investigation into whether an agreement between Google and Meta (formerly Facebook) regarding online display advertising services may have breached EU competition rules.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for Competition Policy, found that through the so-called ‘Jedi Blue’ agreement between Google and Meta, a competing technology to Google’s Open Bidding may have been targeted in order to weaken and exclude it from the market for displaying ads on publisher websites and apps. “If confirmed by our investigation, this would restrict and distort competition in the already concentrated ad tech market, to the detriment of rival ad serving technologies, publishers and ultimately consumers”, Ms Vestager said.
Google provides advertising technology services that intermediate between advertisers and publishers through the real-time auction of online display advertising space on websites or mobile apps, including through its ‘Open Bidding’ programme.
Meta provides online display advertising services and, through its ‘Meta Audience Network’, participates in auctions for third-party publisher advertising space using Google’s and competitors’ advertising technology services.
The Commission’s investigation relates to a September 2018 agreement between Google and Meta (‘Jedi Blue’), concerning the participation of Meta’s Audience Network in Google’s Open Bidding programme.
The Commission is concerned that the agreement is part of an effort to exclude competing advertising technology services from Google’s Open Bidding programme and thereby restrict or distort competition in the online display advertising markets.
If found to be true, the practices under investigation could constitute infringements of EU rules on anti-competitive agreements between companies (Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)) and/or abuses of dominant positions (Article 102 TFEU).
The opening of a formal investigation does not prejudge its outcome.
The UK Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has launched its own investigation into the Google-Meta deal. As is customary, the Commission has been in contact with the CMA and intends to cooperate closely with this investigation in accordance with the applicable rules and procedures. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)