GOOGLE is using its dominant position to rig the online advertising market, a watchdog has found.
The tech giant could be harming thousands of publishers and advertisers by unfairly keeping out rivals, it was claimed.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority said it was concerned Google was “actively using its dominance in this sector to preference its own services”.
Most publishers as well as advertisers, who spend at least £1.8billion a year, use Google’s technology.
But the CMA said that since 2015 it had prevented rivals from offering alternatives to its tools, such as DoubleClick for Publishers.
Google was accused of manipulating the process of buying ads so they had a higher value when its tech was used.
If it is found to have breached the law, then it faces a fine.
The penalty could reach up to ten per cent of its £232billion annual revenue.
Dan Taylor, Google’s vice president of global ads disputes the findings.
He said yesterday: “We disagree with the CMA’s view and we will respond accordingly.”
