The authorities Antitrust of the European Commission e of Great Britain they turn a beacon on Google and Facebook. The two parallel investigations - both announced on Friday - concern "Jedi Blue", a Star Wars-inspired code name of an agreement concluded in 2018 between Mountain View and Meta (parent company of the Zuckerberg empire). The agreement concerns the online advertising and, according to the Authorities, could violate the rules on competition.
The "Jedi Blue" agreement between Google and Facebook
It would essentially be about a non-aggression pact between Google and Facebook: the social network agrees not to compete with Big G's technological tools and services and in exchange gets special treatment for using them. The whole to the detriment of other publishers and advertisers.
In detail, the Authorities must ascertain whether the companies have limited or prevented the adoption of "header bidding" services, a technology which allows content publishers to offer advertising space to multiple buyers simultaneously. In addition, the investigations aim to verify whether Google has affected the ability of other companies to compete in this sector.
Google and Facebook: the comment of the EU Antitrust…
The deal between Google and Facebook, if proven, would risk "distorting competition in an already highly concentrated market, to the detriment of competing ad delivery technologies, (content) publishers and ultimately consumers," she said. European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager.
…and that of the UK Antitrust
“We are concerned that Google may have made an agreement with Meta to hinder competitors who provide important online advertising services to publishers – commented Andrea Coscelli, number one of the British Antitrust – If a company has too much grip on a certain area, it can make it difficult market entry by startups and small businesses and can reduce customer choice.
Long times
Google and Facebook risk fines of up to 10% of their global turnover, but in the immediate term they have nothing to fear, because investigations and any legal proceedings on an issue of this type could take years.
