Google, Meta Face EU-UK Antitrust Probes Over Online Ads Deal
NDTV
The European Commission said it was investigating the so-called "Jedi Blue" agreement to see if it had been used to "restrict and distort competition in the already concentrated ad tech market".
The EU and Britain on Friday opened an antitrust probe into a 2018 deal between tech giants Google and Facebook owner Meta allegedly aimed at cementing their dominance over the online advertising market.
The European Commission said it was investigating the so-called "Jedi Blue" agreement to see if it had been used to "restrict and distort competition in the already concentrated ad tech market".
EU competition supremo Margrethe Vestager said if confirmed, the arrangement will have served to distort competition, squeezing rival ad tech companies, publishers "and ultimately consumers."
The UK's Competition Market Authority also launched its own investigation into the agreement and the two authorities will "closely cooperate" on the investigation, the EU said.
