ADIF moves to CCI against Google’s ‘anti-competitive' online advertising practices

Google's dominance over major online platforms and its reliance on advertising for most of its revenue impacts Indian businesses, says ADIF.

The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) has filed a complaint with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against tech giant Google's alleged anti-competitive practices in online advertising.

The foundation has challenged Google's dominant position and 'purportedly abusive behaviour' in the online search and display ads market. 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," says the foundation's statement.

It has 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 also said there were inconsistencies in Google's ad policy enforcement and a 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 as reported by PTI.

ADIF's complaints also highlight how Google leverages its dominance across the entire value chain of the ad tech stack.

"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," ADIF's statement added.

The body hopes that the CCI's investigation will prompt Google to voluntarily address some of these concerns. It also anticipates that the CCI will implement both behavioral and structural remedies to counter Google's alleged abuse of its dominant position.

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