Google and Meta are being investigated by the EU for possible competition breaches

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Google and Meta are being investigated by the EU for possible competition breaches.

The European Union threatened to impose sanctions on a deal between Google and Facebook parent Meta for online display advertising services, stating on Friday that the pact may violate the bloc's fair competition laws.

The EU's competition authority has launched an investigation into a 2018 agreement featuring Meta's "Audience Network" participation in Google's "Open Bidding" program.

According to the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, the agreement might be part of an effort to ban ad tech businesses that compete with Google's Open Bidding scheme, which would affect publishers and consumers.

"If our inquiry confirms this, it will limit and distort competing in the already concentrated ad tech sector, to the disadvantage of competitor ad serving technologies, publishers, and, ultimately, consumers," European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement Friday.

The United Kingdom has initiated its own investigation into Google and Meta's deal.

The European Commission stated that it has communicated with the United Kingdom's competition authorities and "intends to closely cooperate on this inquiry in accordance with the applicable rules and procedures."

Source: Associated Press News