ADIF files complaint to CCI against Google’s dominant position in the online advertising market

Alliance of Digital India Foundation files complaint with competition watchdog over anti-competitive practices in Indian online advertising market

ADIF found that Google’s ad ranking system does not provide advertisers with knowledge about the services they offer

Last year, the foundation raised concerns about Google’s advertising technology practices and called for antitrust investigations and criminal investigations into the tech giant.

The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) has filed a complaint with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) alleging anti-competitive practices by Google in the Indian online advertising market.

In a statement, the industry body, whose members include Indian startups such as Paytm, Matrimony and TrulyMadly, said its complaint alleges that Google has engaged in practices that limit competition and negatively impact online advertising companies.

He claims that Google imposes unfair terms on advertisers through its advertising policies. He also claims that Google’s ad ranking system leaves advertisers in the dark about the services they provide.

“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,” ADIF said in a statement.

The foundation said its complaint also highlights inconsistencies in the enforcement of Google’s advertising policies and a lack of transparency in the ad review and adjudication process. These practices, it said, often result in many advertisers being unfairly denied access to Google’s search advertising platform.

The complaint also alleges “autonomous preference” by Google by bundling its products such as DoubleClick for Publishers with AdX and Display & Video 360 with AdX.

ADIF’s concerns about Google are not limited to the aforementioned points. They also highlighted issues with the way the tech giant handles data collected from its users.

It is worth noting that in order to curb the growing privacy concerns surrounding its flagship Chrome browser, Google has accelerated the rollout of its “Privacy Sandbox,” making it available to the general public. In 2019, when the company launched working on Sandboxthe company said it would address privacy issues.

“ADIF is particularly concerned about Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative, which aims to remove third-party cookies from websites accessible through the Google Chrome browser. This move could make it significantly more difficult for non-Google Demand Side Platforms to effectively provide services to advertisers,” ADIF said in a statement.

This is not the first time that ADIF has spoken out against Google’s policies. Last year he expressed concerns over Google’s ad tech practices and called for antitrust investigations and probes into the tech giant, saying at the time that Indian advertisers and publishers were “trapped in Google’s web of control.”

This deepens the problems Google is grappling with in India. In 2022, the CCI ordered a fresh investigation into the tech giant for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the news aggregation space, after complaint filed by the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA).

In addition, the CCI imposed a total fine on the company in the amount of INR 1337.6 Cr on Google in 2022 in two separate cases – for the abuse of its dominant position on the Android device market and through the Play Store policy.