ADIF moves CCI against Google's "anti-competitive practices" in online advertising

NEW DELHI: The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) on Monday said it has filed a complaint with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against tech giant Google's alleged anti-competitive practices in online advertising. ADIF has challenged Google's dominant position and "purportedly abusive behaviour" in the online search advertisement and online display advertisement markets.

Google's dominance over major online platforms and its reliance on advertising for the majority of its revenue hinders competition and negatively impacts Indian businesses, a statement by ADIF said.

"ADIF has filed a comprehensive complaint with the CCI, bringing to light Google's alleged anti-competitive practices in the online advertising sphere.

"ADIF contends that Google's control over major online platforms, coupled with the fact that it derives 97 per cent of its revenue from advertising, has led to practices that stifle competition and adversely affect Indian businesses," the statement said.

Queries sent to Google by PTI did not elicit any response.

ADIF, the policy think tank focusing on Indian digital startups, also voiced concerns about the opacity of Google's ad ranking system, describing it as a "black-box approach" that leaves advertisers in the dark about the services they are paying for.

"ADIF argues that Google's practices regarding trademark usage in keyword bidding create an artificial inflation of advertisement prices. Google allows competitors to bid on trademarked keywords, leading to a bidding war that ultimately benefits Google at the expense of advertisers and trademark owners," the statement said.

ADIF said inconsistencies in Google's ad policy enforcement and the lack of transparency in its ad review and redressal processes results in unfair denial of access to Google's online search advertising platform for many advertisers.

"Our complaint to the CCI is a crucial step towards ensuring that this vital market operates on principles of fairness, transparency, and equitable competition. We believe that addressing these issues will not only benefit advertisers and publishers but will also foster innovation and create a more vibrant digital economy in India," said Prateek Jain, associate director-Startup and Alliances, ADIF.

The complaint highlighted how Google leverages its dominance across the entire value chain of the ad tech stack, according to the statement.

"Google engages in self-preferencing by tying its products together, such as DoubleClick for Publishers with AdX, and Display & Video 360 with AdX. This practice restricts market access for competitors and negatively impacts startups that rely on these services.

"ADIF is particularly concerned over Google's Privacy Sandbox initiative, which aims to remove third-party cookies from websites accessed via the Google Chrome browser. This move could significantly hampers non-Google Demand Side Platforms' ability to serve advertisers effectively," it said.

As digital advertising spending continues to grow rapidly in India, it is imperative to address these market imbalances promptly, ADIF said.

"The foundation expresses hope that the CCI's investigation will prompt Google to voluntarily address some of these concerns. ADIF anticipates that the CCI will implement both behavioral and structural remedies to counter Google's alleged abuse of its dominant position," it said.