Google Denies Search, Advertising Monopoly Following Concerns from Australian Regulator

Google denied it held a monopoly on “online searches” and advertising following calls from an Australian regulator for “increased scrutiny” and greater monitoring of Big Tech companies.

According to Reuters, the company “rejected calls by Australia’s competition regulator for tougher scrutiny of its operations, denying that it enjoys market power in online searches and advertising.”

Last year, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) reportedly suggested that Australia needs “increased scrutiny and a new regulatory body to monitor the dominance of tech giants in online advertising and news markets.”

In response, Google recently issued a statement, declaring, “The preliminary report bases many of its recommendations on the mistaken premise that Google has market power in search, search advertising, and news media referrals.”

Google claimed it “faces fierce competition from other providers, including vertical search sites like Amazon, Expedia, Domain and Carsales.com, many of which users access directly through mobile apps,” however Google reportedly holds a “94 percent share of web searches in Australia.”

Google, Facebook, and Amazon are the three biggest online advertisement companies, and Google reportedly generates as much ad revenue than the entire global print advertisement market.

In 2017, the CEO of advertising company Parsec even claimed Google was a “dictator” in the advertising market, declaring, “Right now, they are a benevolent dictator… Let’s not joke ourselves. They own the browser. We’re playing in their world. They set the rules.”

As Breitbart Tech reported in July 2018:

Google’s monopoly has come under fire from a number of prominent individuals and organizations on the political left and right, including libertarian tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel, Tech Knowledge think tank director Fred Campbell, Open Markets fellow and HuffPost contributor Matt Stoller, the Wall Street Journal, author Michael Savage, and psychologist and author Dr. Robert Epstein.

“It’s very expensive to start a TV network. We could use another one,” expressed author and commentator Ann Coulter during Breitbart News’ “Masters of the Universe” event in April. “But Facebook, Twitter, and Google are different. You cannot compete with them. You can’t.”

“Facebook, it’s too late now. Google — well, you can explain why Google, they just have the best search engine,” she continued. “You’re not going to make your own search engine. It is a natural monopoly.”