"The UK’s competition watchdog has shied away from a full market investigation into the online advertising industry dominated by Facebook and Google, citing Covid-19 as one of the reasons for the decision.
Publishing a report into the sector on Tuesday, the Competition and Markets Authority said it was ignoring calls for a formal probe, which would allow it to use significant enforcement powers. The watchdog said it feared such an exercise would increase “burdens on to businesses” that were already suffering under Covid-19.
Instead, the watchdog expressed faith in the government’s commitment to regulatory reform, and proposed a “code of conduct” for tech giants like Google and Facebook to police their use of data.
Under the proposals, a new digital regulator would force Google to share “click and query” data with rivals to improve their algorithms, and restrict Google’s ability to appear as a default search engine on devices.
The CMA said that if the government does not take its recommendations forward, “we stand ready to take our own direct action and can reconsider the option of a market investigation.”
Even so, the lack of antitrust enforcement action after the year-long study will dismay publishers and advertisers who have called for more urgent measures. On Tuesday, the CMA said it was “actively considering enforcement cases in the digital sector” but to date no investigations have been launched.
Damien Geradin, a lawyer who has championed antitrust action against Google and submitted evidence to the CMA, said it was “regrettable that the CMA chose not to proceed with a market investigation considering the nature of its findings”.
“As it may take several years for the UK government to set up the CMA’s proposed pro-competition regime, this gives ample time to Google to pursue its abusive behaviour,” he said."
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