Facebook Owner Meta Files Antitrust Pledges on Online Ads

By Mathieu Rosemain

PARIS (Reuters) – France’s antitrust watchdog said on Thursday it had approved commitments made by Facebook owner Meta Platforms regarding France’s online advertising sector.

As announced by the French regulator, Meta has committed to providing so-called advertising technology companies with access to its advertising inventory and campaign data on transparent, objective and predictable terms for a period of five years.

“This is the first time that Meta has made commitments to a competition authority (in the advertising sector),” said Henri Piffaut, vice-president of the French competition authority.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The antitrust decision follows a complaint filed by French online advertising group Criteo.

Meta provides access to advertising data through Meta Business Partner and has committed that ad tech companies will be able to access it once a certain level of spending on its interface is reached.

The watchdog said the commitments made by Meta apply to advertising inventory across all of Meta’s platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.

The office said the obligations also apply to ad technology companies that participated in at least one advertising campaign seen by Meta users in France.

Advertising technology companies use the data they collect online to participate in online advertising campaigns designed to target Internet users with messages that are relevant to their tastes.

The main goal of the antitrust authority is to ensure non-discriminatory market conditions for the growing number of companies that are entering the Internet sector.

“You can create an ecosystem, but it shouldn’t exclude the competitor,” Piffaut said.

In May, Germany’s antitrust authority said Meta Platforms Inc. was of “great significance for competition in markets,” giving Germany more leeway to restrict the market power of digital companies.

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Jane Merriman)