Australia continues fight against Google advertising dominance News
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Australia continues fight against Google advertising dominance

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced on Thursday that it is considering a move to let internet users decide what personal data Big Tech companies can share with advertisers.

The ACCC published its interim report, listing Google as its main adversary. The recent report is the latest in Australia’s fight against Google.

“Advertising technology, or ad tech, has significantly transformed the way that advertising is delivered to consumers online.” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said. “As consumers live more of their lives online, ad-tech plays an increasingly critical role in the advertising market and the wider digital economy.”

The ACCC announced their plan to reject Google behavioral undertakings for Fitbit’s acquisition in December, which raised competition concerns.

The ACCC also fought with Google in August about the platform charging users for its search engine, in October for misrepresenting a private company as a government agency, and in October 2019 for misleading users on its collection and use of their location data.

“[T]here is a real lack of competition, choice, and transparency in this industry,” Sims said. “These issues add to the cost of advertising for businesses, which will ultimately impact the prices paid by consumers.”

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