The European Publishers Council (EPC) industry association, which includes publishers such as DPG Media, Sanoma, RELX and Mediahuis, wants Google to be held accountable and for the European competition watchdog to take measures to break Google’s market power.
The publishers state that since the acquisition of the DoubleClick company in 2008, Google has largely eliminated competition in the field of web advertisements through all kinds of illegal activities. Google now acts as a representative of both the buyer and seller of advertising space and the company is also the auction house in between.
This position ensures that only Google has insight into supply, demand and prices, while serving its own interests first. Media, but also other companies, are now largely dependent on the American company for their income from advertising.
Measures
EPC President Christian Van Thillo says it is “high time” for the European Commission to act and take measures to force Google to actually change its behavior. “Competition authorities around the world have ruled that Google is restricting competition, but the company has gotten away with minor tweaks that made no meaningful change to how its system works. This cannot continue.”