On Thursday, a group of Senate Republicans and Democrats introduced a new bill that could force Google and Facebook’s parent company, Meta, to spin

Senators push to break up Google, Facebook ads businesses in new bill

submited by

Style Pass

2022-05-19 23:00:16

On Thursday, a group of Senate Republicans and Democrats introduced a new bill that could force Google and Facebook’s parent company, Meta, to spin off their online ads businesses, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act — co-sponsored by Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) — would ban companies processing more than $20 billion a year in digital ad transactions from running more than one portion of the digital advertising ecosystem.

The restrictions would directly impact Google, which tech antitrust hawks have long seen as a vertical monopoly in display advertising. Omidyar Network advisor David Dinielli made the case directly to Congress in testimony to the House Judiciary Committee in 2020. “Google — through its various ad tech tools – represents both the suppliers and the purchasers,” Dinielli said, “and also conducts the real-time auctions that match buyers and sellers and determine the price.”

Reached for comment, Google spokesperson Julie Tarallo McAlister said the proposed law would ultimately hurt users. “Advertising tools from Google and many competitors help American websites and apps fund their content, help businesses grow, and help protect users from privacy risks and misleading ads,” Tarallo McAlister told The Verge on Thursday. “Breaking those tools would hurt publishers and advertisers, lower ad quality, and create new privacy risks. And, at a time of heightened inflation, it would handicap small businesses looking for easy and effective ways to grow online.”