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Regulators again investigating Google

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Google is again in the spotlight of European regulators

Regulators have opened an investigation into Google’s lucrative digital advertising business.

The new investigation will examine whether it favours its own business over rivals, advertisers, and online publishers.

The tech giant generated $147 billion in revenue from online ads last year, more than any other company in the world. Advertisements that run on its properties which include YouTube, and Gmail, accounted for the bulk of sales and profits.

About 16% of revenue came from its display or network business, in which other media companies use Google technology to sell ads on their website and apps.

The EU’s main concern

The European Commission says it will be investigating to determine whether Google distorts competition by restricting access to third parties to user data for advertising purposes on websites and apps, while reserving such data for its own use.

“We are concerned that Google has made it harder for rival online advertising services to compete in the so-called ad tech stack,”

European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

“We will also be looking at Google’s policies on user tracking to make sure they are in line with fair competition,” she said.

Google said it would engage constructively with the Commission.

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