India: Competition Commission opened investigation into Google’s over alleged abuse of dominance in online display advertising services (Case No. 23(1) of 2024)

On 1 August 2025, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) issued an order in Case No. 23(1) of 2024 under Section 26(1) of the Competition Act, 2002, directing the Director General to investigate the conduct of Google (Alphabet) in the online display advertising services market. The matter originated from information filed by the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) under Section 19(1)(a), alleging contraventions of Sections 4(2)(a)(i), 4(2)(b)(i), 4(2)(c), 4(2)(d), and 4(2)(e) read with Section 4(1) of the Act. The Commission recorded allegations of abuse of dominance through Google’s AdTech Stack, including tying of DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) with AdX into Google Ad Manager (GAM), tying of Display & Video 360 (DV360) with AdX, exclusive access to YouTube inventory via DV360, dynamic allocation and “last look” practices, as well as opacity in fee structures and ad placement via AdSense for Search. The Commission held that these allegations, already under investigation in the consolidated Publishers Case (Case Nos. 41 of 2021, 10 of 2022, 36 of 2022, and 34 of 2024), warranted clubbing under the proviso to Section 26(1) and directed a consolidated investigation report to be submitted by the Director General.