CCI Dismisses Antitrust Complaint Against Google's Ad Biz

In a major reprieve for Google, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has reportedly junked a complaint, which sought a probe into the big tech giant’s alleged abuse of dominance in the online advertising space.

As per Economic Times, the competition watchdog, in an order dated August 1, noted that the complainant failed to substantiate its claims. It has now closed the matter.

“ADIF hasn’t pointed out any specific part of any policy or conduct of Google in support of its claim that the allegations made in the present matter also extend to Google’s Online Display Advertising services… Therefore, in light of there being no supporting evidence to such claim, the Commission does not deem fit to take cognisance of such claim of ADIF,” the CCI reportedly said.

It is pertinent to note that industry body Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), which counts Indian startups like Paytm, Matrimony, TrulyMadly and others as its members, had sought a probe into Google’s alleged anti-competitive practices in the segment.

With regards to certain other issues raised by the industry body, the regulator noted that it has addressed similar issues in previous cases, adding that re-investigating the same issue again without “any material change in circumstances” would “lead to a wastage of time and resources of the public exchequer”.

As per the report, CCI also underlined that the four instances of alleged unfair and discriminatory conditions (raised by ADIF before CCI) imposed on advertisers under Google Ad Policies were already “examined in substance and set to rest by the Commission in its previous decisions in Matrimony case (supra) and/ or Vishal Gupta case (supra)”.

“The Commission is not convinced with the reasons stated by ADIF for distinguishing its allegations from the issues examined in previous orders passed by the Commission. As per the clear language of Section 26(2A) of the Competition Act, the issues examined in the previous order may be ‘the same’ or ‘substantially the same’,” added the order.

What Did ADIF Allege?

This comes a year after ADIF filed a complaint with the CCI in August last year over Google’s alleged anti-competitive practices in the Indian online advertising market. At the time, ADIF had said that Google employed practices that stifled competition and adversely impacted businesses in online advertising.

The complaint had also alleged that the big tech major imposed unfair conditions on advertisers through its policies, adding that there was a lack of transparency in Google’s ad review and redressal processes. ADIF had also raised concerns over Google’s Privacy Sandbox programme, saying that the initiative would significantly hamper non-Google Demand Side Platforms’ ability to serve advertisers effectively.

For context, the sandbox initiative which aims to remove third-party cookies from websites accessed via the Google Chrome browser to address privacy concerns.

Notably, this is not the big tech major’s first brush with the CCI. In 2022, the watchdog ordered a probe into the tech giant for allegedly abusing its dominance in news aggregation space. In the same year, the commission also imposed penalties, totalling INR 2,200 Cr, on Google in two separate cases for abuse of its dominant position in the Android devices market and with regards to its Play Store policies.

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