Google vs UK Watchdog

The UK antitrust watchdog is investigating Google on suspicions that it may be abusing its dominant position in online advertising. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is concerned that Google may be favouring its own ad exchange services, while taking active steps to exclude the services offered by rivals.

Google's rivals in this space are Amazon Ads, Trade Desk, MediaMath, maybe Meta and. . . that's it. They are by far the largest, and there are no other meaningful competitors in this highly technical business. You need complex ad servers, demand-side platforms, publisher-side ad servers, and analytic tools. Without those there's no way in.

Of course, the company has its own view, and made this statement: "Advertising tools from Google and many competitors help websites and apps fund their content, and help businesses of all sizes effectively reach their customers. When publishers choose to use our advertising services, they keep the majority of revenue."

This will be hard to investigate and harder to remedy, in my opinion. Hold this stock.