Google said it is working with relevant regulators and has no plans to exit the ad-tech business
Google said it is working with relevant regulators and has no plans to exit the ad-tech business
Alphabet Inc.’s Google has offered concessions to avoid a potential US antitrust lawsuit alleging the company abuses its influence in advertising. technology business, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
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The report said that Google proposed to spin off parts of its business that puts ads on websites and apps under Alphabet into a separate company that could be valued at tens of billions of dollars.
Alphabet said in a statement to Reuters that it was engaging with regulators to address their concerns, adding that it has no plans to sell or exit the ad-tech business.
“We are deeply committed to providing value to a wide range of publisher and advertiser partners in a highly competitive arena,” said Google-Parent.
A Justice Department spokesman declined comment.
Brandon Krasin, an antitrust attorney representing publishers and companies in the ed tech space, was skeptical that the offer would be enough.
“I don’t see how the business is spinning, but keeping it under the Alphabet umbrella will solve the problem. Google will still have an incentive to self-prefer,” he said in an email.
The department under President Joe Biden has expressed a strong preference for asset sales, also known as structural measures, to address antitrust concerns.
In the biggest challenge to Big Tech’s power and influence in decades, the US Department of Justice sued Google in October 2020, accusing the company of illegally using its market power to attract rivals went.
Britain’s competition regulator launched its second investigation into Google’s advertising practices in May, saying the search giant may have distorted competition and may have favored its services illegally.
Google is also facing scrutiny regulator in europe That last June it began an investigation into whether its digital advertising business gives the Alphabet entity an unfair advantage over rivals and advertisers.