According to people familiar with the situation, the US justice department investigators are worried about Google’s decision to block a common web monitoring method known as “cookies.” They have been asking advertising industry executives if the search giant’s step would stifle smaller competitors. Google, owned by Alphabet Inc., revealed a year ago that it would block certain cookies in its Chrome browser to improve user privacy. Google has published more information in the last two months, prompting rivals in the online advertising industry to lament the loss of the data-gathering tool.
According to four people familiar with the investigation, inquiries from Justice Department investigators have focused on how Chrome regulations, including those linked to cookies, impact the ad and news industries. Investigators are looking into whether Google is using Chrome, which has a 60% market share worldwide, to limit competition by prohibiting rival ad companies from monitoring users via cookies while leaving openings for it to collect data via cookies, analytics software, and other means, according to the sources.
Google defended its advertising business, claiming that it was assisting businesses in their growth while also protecting users’ privacy from exploitative practices. The company claims that enormous competition in ad tools has made online advertising more competitive, lowered fees, and increased choices for publishers and advertisers. One of the sources said that if the Justice Department sues over ad-related actions, it will file a new complaint or enter the Texas case. However, antitrust experts believe the department still has time to update its current lawsuit to include the ad tech issues. Texas updated its lawsuit on Tuesday, alleging, among other things, that upcoming revisions to Chrome “are anti-competitive because they lift entry barriers and exclude competition.” Advertisements on the internet Several of Google’s services have been restricting data collection and use.
Ad tech companies that use cookies to capture people’s browsing history in order to target them with more appropriate advertising, will be impacted by the Chrome changes. They don’t think tracking individuals around the web can stand the test of time as privacy issues continue to grow, Jerry Dischler, a Google vice president in charge of ad services, said last week at an industry conference. Smaller competitors, on the other hand, reject the privacy argument used by big corporations like Google and Apple Inc to limit monitoring because they will continue to collect useful data and potentially gain even more ad revenue.
According to Chad Engelgau, CEO of Interpublic Group of Companies Inc’s ad data unit Acxiom, there is a weaponization of privacy to justify business decisions that consolidate control to their business and disadvantage the wider marketplace. On Wednesday, France’s competition authority granted Apple temporary permission to enforce new tracking restrictions, arguing that privacy concerns outweighed competition concerns. The Competition and Markets Authority in the United Kingdom is expected to make a decision shortly about whether or not to obstruct the upcoming Chrome changes.
