AGC Collective Actions Limited, represented by law firm KP Law, has filed an application for proceedings with the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal. The claim alleges Google favoured its own display advertising services while excluding competitors and potential competitors, leaving advertisers paying more for less effective adverts.
The Verizon Media-owned company commissioned Sparkler to conduct various studies across the UK, France and Germany in which they asked over 6,000 participants to determine the value of native ad formats via behavioural tests for a set number of brands. In the UK, 31% of people said the native ads they were shown across mobile and desktop devices drove purchase intent, for banner ads the figure was 27%.
The European Union today fined Google roughly $3.5 billion for violating its competition laws, a move that risks escalating tensions with the Trump administration. The European Commission, the executive branch of the 27-nation bloc, said Google had breached antitrust laws by using its size and dominance to control the display advertising business, undercutting rivals. The European Union's aggressive regulation of the tech industry has been a major source of contention with the United States.
