Britain’s market watchdog is examining plans to block Google for two years or more from rolling out new privacy features on its Chrome internet browser.

The Competition and Markets Authority is weighing up proposals to put the update on ice over fears that it could crush advertising revenues at smaller rivals.

On-Going Investigation

The regulator has already launched an investigation into the technology after campaigners warned it could harm other websites by robbing them of the data they need for advertising.

Google claims the new features will protect internet users’ privacy, even though the tech giant will still be able to use similar data itself. Its ‘sandbox’ privacy settings will stop smaller websites from using cookies to collect data about visitors’ internet activity. Advertisers rely on cookies to target people with offers they think they will like.

Hitting Revenue

Pressure group Marketers for an Open Web has told the CMA the project could hit smaller websites’ revenues by up to 75 per cent.

The CMA launched its probe on January 8, but The Mail on Sunday understands its investigation could take two years or more.

Officials fear any changes to the browser could cause irreversible damage to competitors before the probe concludes.

Acting In The Public Interest

The watchdog has the power to stop the rollout if it can prove that urgent action is needed to prevent significant harm to individuals or businesses in the UK. The CMA can also act if it is in the public interest.

According to a report in the Mail, Google and Facebook could be forced to pay news publishers for their content as part of the government’s bid to rein in the power of tech giants.

• Competition watchdog wants Digital Markets Unit to fine firms if breaching rules
• New fines would mean a penalty of £12billion for Google or £5billion for Facebook
• Rules to cover how companies do business with others and how they treat users
• Unit could be running by April but enforcement powers might take until 2022

Google and Facebook could soon be forced to pay UK publishers for using their news content as part of a suite of new powers to rein them in, the Government‘s digital taskforce said today.

A group led by the UK’s competitions watchdog believes British publishers are victims of the tech giants’ extraordinary market dominance and payments for stories and videos could help address this.

Google and Facebook’s use of shadowy algorithms to drive internet traffic and grab 80% of the UK’s £14billion digital advertising market should also be tackled, today’s recommendations say.

The Australian government has released draft legislation to compel Google and Facebook to negotiate with Australian media companies. The digital platforms have responded aggressively, warning users of dire consequences and, in the case of Facebook, threatening to remove news from Australian Facebook pages. Here’s what the fight is about.

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Why does the Australian government think Google and Facebook should make payments to Australian media companies?

It’s all about the relative market power of the news companies and the tech giants.

News companies and digital platforms need each other. Google and Facebook are gateways to the internet for almost every Australian, so news companies have no choice but to distribute their journalism via these platforms. That benefits publishers when the platforms send readers back to news websites.

But the digital platforms also need news. Users would find Google or Facebook far less helpful if no news appeared on their feeds or in their search results. More than half the Australian population finds news via the platforms, the 2019 University of Canberra digital news report found. The platforms monetise these audiences by selling advertising against the attention paid to news. They also collect vast amounts of data about those readers, which helps them target advertising and become even more dominant in the advertising market that once paid for the production of news. Excluding classifieds, the ACCC estimates that Google collects 47% of all online advertising in Australia; Facebook collects 21%.

Further Information

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