France accuses Meta of abusing dominance in online ads

France’s antitrust authority has notified Meta Platforms Inc. of a potential breach of competition laws in the online advertising market.

In a statement posted on Wednesday, July 9, the regulator accused Meta of exploiting its dominant position by limiting access to ad verification partnerships for ads it sells under allegedly opaque, discriminatory, and unfair terms.

The notification, formally known as a statement of objections, does not determine the probe’s outcome. Meta will be allowed to respond and defend itself, the agency added.

A Meta spokesperson in Paris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meta finds itself in trouble with the French media firms in the online advertising sector

French media firms, including TF1, France TV, and BFM TV, sued Meta over allegedly illegal business methods, the law firms acting for the plaintiffs said.

This was after a group of 67 media companies, which represent 200 publications, had filed a case in the Paris business tribunal court in April. They claimed  Meta’s leading position in the digital advertising market was largely due to illegal activities such as massive personal data collection and the utilization of targeted advertising.

The company will also face trial this October in Spain over a 551 million euro complaint, equivalent to a $582 million complaint lodged by more than 80 media companies accusing it of unfair competition in advertising.

Still, there are other complaints raised on Meta. In February, online rights activists lodged complaints in Europe over Meta’s ad practices, and earlier on, EU antitrust regulators fined Meta and Apple for what they said were breaches of EU law.

The French media groups are being represented in the Paris case by US law firm Scott+Scott and French law firm Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier. It is not only the television companies involved, but also Figaro, Lagardere, L’Express, La Depeche, Liberation, Radio France, and Centre France.

Google follows Meta’s lead, finding itself in the same “ditch”

Alphabet’s Google is embroiled in a legal fight with Texas and a handful of other states that now threatens to lead to a possible confrontation that might end up costing the company more than $100 billion in fines because it enforced a digital advertising monopoly.

Both sides made dueling demands on Tuesday, July 8, to US District Judge Sean Jordan in the federal court in Plano, Texas. They asked to restrict certain information that jurors can access during the trial, set for Aug. 11, such as potential payments to the states and Google’s financial condition.

In 2020, Google was also found guilty of the same scandal. Texas and more than a dozen other US states filed a suit against Google, claiming the company illegally owned advertising markets and violated rules that guard against deceptive business practices.

That trial followed an April victory by the US Justice Department in the government’s case accusing Google of illegally monopolizing the market for online advertising technology, a decision by a federal judge in Virginia.

Neither Google nor Texas’s lead lawyer responded to a request for comment.

KEY Difference Wire: the secret tool crypto projects use to get guaranteed media coverage