France: Autorité de la Concurrence opens investigation into Google over alleged abuse of dominance in the online advertising sector

On 26 September 2019, the French competition authority (Autorité de la Concurrence) opened an investigation into Google over allegations that it has abused its dominant position in the online advertising market. More specifically, Google is accused of upholding its dominant position by actively distorting competition in two markets, the ad server technology and programmatic advertising platforms market. The plaintiffs claim that Google used its algorithm to favour its services to the detriment of competing technology providers.