Google has recently been trying to appease Antitrust authorities both in the US and in the EU. In the US it allegedly offered to split its ad-tech business into a separate company. Such behavioral remedies might not satisfy the DOJ, rumored to have a preference for deep structural changes such as asset sales or divestitures. Within the European ad-tech investigation opened last year, Google seems to have made an offer that would allow competitors to broker the sale of ads on YouTube. Meanwhile in France, Google reached an agreement with the Antitrust authority that fined it last year 500 million Euros, on binding commitments for a fair negotiation with the news media.</span
The Indian competition commission is also looking into the complaints made by the Indian media via the Indian Newspaper Society and the Digital News Association against Google and Facebook’s policies on using their news and arbitrary and opaque apportioning of ad revenues.Â
The above article except for the last paragraph is based on the Wan-Ifra Media Policy Briefing newsletter of 29 July 2022.
