In order to avoid monopolisation of business, in the US, they invoke the anti-trust law. Justice Department of the US filed a case against Google almost two years ago alleging anti-competitive tactics to maintain its dominant position in online search. Google has denied the allegations and the case is in progress.
The Justice Department has been conducting a long-time investigation into allegations that Google abuses its role as a broker and auctioneer of digital advertisements, and gains business at the cost of its rivals. The department is preparing a law suit alleging Google’s ad-tech practices are anti-competitive.
Google has been engaging constructively with the regulators to address their concerns. Google has offered concessions, and has proposed splitting part of its business that auctions and places ads on websites and apps into a separate company under the Alphabet Umbrella. It is doubtful whether any offer short of asset sales would satisfy the regulators. The regulators have signaled deep structural changes in ad-tech business, rather than cosmetic changes in business practices.
In the European Union, Google faces another ad tech investigation. There its offer is to settle an allegation of anti-competitive conduct related to YouTube. As part of this offer, Google would permit the competitors to sell ads directly on video service. At present, the buying of ads on YouTube is only through Google’s ad buying tools.