Australia proposes rules to clip Big Tech’s advertising monopoly

SYDNEY: An Australian regulator is considering letting internet users choose what personal data companies such as Google share with advertisers, as part of the country’s attempts to shatter the dominance of tech titans.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) also proposed limiting the internet giants’ ability to access users’ online histories to cross-sell products.

The proposals were part of the ACCC’S interim report into digital advertising in Australia, a A$3.4 billion ($2.6 billion) market that the regulator said is marked by a lack of competition, transparency and choice.

The ACCC estimates Google’s share of Australian digital advertising revenue at between 50% and 100%, depending on the service. “Google is the only one that can determine the effectiveness of ads, so often they’re marking their own homework when it comes to the effectiveness of the ads they supply,” ACCC chair Rod Sims told Reuters. “There’s a lot wrong with the market... and it’s effectively dominated by one player.”.

The proposals add a new element to the antitrust regulator’s campaign to check the power of online behemoths Google and Facebook in Australia.

Proposals by the ACCC that Google should pay local media outlets for content that drives traffic to their websites have been adopted in draft legislation. Google had earlier threatened to pull its search engine from Australia.