According to The Verge, the UK’s competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), will collaborate with Google as it attempts to rework online ad targeting, the regulator and Google have announced. It comes as Google is attempting to phase out the use of third-party cookies for tracking and targeting users with ads and instead use a new set of technologies it’s calling Privacy Sandbox.
In its announcement Google says it will work with UK regulators. Google stated this is the first time regulators and technology companies have worked together on new technologies like this. As well as the CMA, the UK’s data protection regulator (the Information Commissioner’s Office, or ICO) will also be involved.
“The CMA is taking a leading role in setting out how we can work with the most powerful tech firms to shape their behavior and protect competition to the benefit of consumers,” the CMA’s chief executive Andrea Coscelli, said in a statement.
The collaboration comes in response to the CMA’s announcement in January that it would be formally investigating Google’s proposals, which involve using AI to bundle users together into anonymized groups to target them with ads (you can read more about the proposals here). Google says it will work with UK regulators. Google’s new approach is intended as a more privacy-orientated alternative to tracking cookies, which the company intends to phase out of its Chrome browser over the next year.
However, concerns have been raised that Google’s Privacy Sandbox could harm competition, and concentrate yet more power in the hands of the search giant.
Google has made a series of commitments to the UK regulator about how it will develop and implement the changes. It says it will develop the plans transparently, in a way that doesn’t give itself an unfair advantage, or discriminate against its rivals. It’s also making a commitment to not combine user data from Chrome browsing histories or Google Analytics with its ad products.
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
T-Mobile’s Acquisition of Ka’ena Corporation Receives FCC Approval
Apr 26, 2024 by
CPI
UK Regulator Announces Two New Senior Executive Appointments
Apr 26, 2024 by
CPI
Paramount Global and Skydance Media Near Merger Deal, Eyeing CEO Change
Apr 26, 2024 by
CPI
BHP Unveils £31bn Mining Megamerger Proposal with Anglo American
Apr 25, 2024 by
nhoch@pymnts.com
ByteDance Prefers Shutdown Over Sale of TikTok Amid US Ban Threats
Apr 25, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI