Watchdog probes Google dominance

GOOGLE is to be investigated by the UK’s competition watchdog over claims it broke the law by abusing its dominance in digital advertising.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it would examine whether the online giant had ‘distorted’ the industry and made it harder for rival services to compete.

The billion-pound digital advertising market is important because millions of Britons use websites that rely on advertising revenue to offer high-quality and free content.

But the regulator highlighted how weakened competition was particularly hurting news publishers, which could be forced to compromise the quality of their content or go behind a paywall.

A draft Bill was announced in the Queen’s Speech to allow new digital regulator, the Digital Markets Unit, to rein in ‘Big Tech’.

The CMA has urged the Government to do so as quickly as legislative time allows but yesterday said it would ‘forge ahead’ with its existing powers until then.