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Google Under Review for Possible British Competition Enquiry

Brexit Deal ‘Down to Political Will’ From UK, Says Irish PM

The prime minister of Ireland—where the impact of a Brexit deal will be felt most keenly within the European Union—says he hopes the outline of a free-trade deal between the UK and the EU will emerge by the end of the week. The fate of the deal rests on UK political will, he said. Talks started up again on Monday, albeit online, with the EU’s chief negotiator saying that “fundamental divergences remain.” In just six weeks the UK will sever ties with the trading bloc, regardless of whether a deal has been struck or not. Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said he had received a sense of progress from both negotiating teams. “I would be hopeful that, by the end of this week, that we could see the outlines of a…

Google Under Review for Possible British Competition Enquiry

Britain’s competition regulator said on Monday it was assessing whether a complaint about Google related to digital advertising warranted a formal competition law investigation.

The complaint from Marketers for an Open Web (MOW), a coalition of technology and publishing companies, said it wanted the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to delay the launch of Google’s Privacy Sandbox technology.

MOW said the technology would remove features such as login and advertising from the open web and put them under Google’s control.

“We take the matters raised in the complaint very seriously, and will assess them carefully with a view to deciding whether to open a formal investigation under the Competition Act,” the CMA said.

“If the urgency of the concerns requires us to intervene swiftly, we will also assess whether to impose interim measures to order the suspension of any suspected anti-competitive conduct pending the outcome of a full investigation.”

MOW said Google’s Chrome browser and Chromium developer tools were being modified to give it greater control over how publishers and advertisers can operate.

These changes are scheduled for full implementation in early 2021, MOW said.

“If Google releases this technology they will effectively own the means by which media companies, advertisers and technology businesses reach their consumers and that change will be irreversible,” MOW director James Rosewell said.

Google said the technology will allow people to receive relevant ads—helping to sustain the current advertising model—without tracking users on an individual level.

Advertisers would be able to target groups of people without allowing individual identifying data to leave the browser.

“The ad-supported web is at risk if digital advertising practices don’t evolve to reflect people’s changing expectations around how data is collected and used,” Google said.

“That’s why Google introduced the Privacy Sandbox, an open initiative built in collaboration with the industry, to provide strong privacy for users while also supporting publishers.”

Existing Tools

The CMA has already spent a year looking into digital advertising.

The watchdog has said that Google and Facebook have developed unassailable market positions, with the two accounting for nearly 80 percent of UK’s digital advertising spending of 14 billion pounds ($17 billion) in 2019.

However, its investigation, which concluded in July, recommended regulatory changes rather than a market investigation.

CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli said in a speech in October that existing tools were “clearly not sufficient to address” potential harms, although they would continue to be deployed.

“Our key recommendation was that a new regulatory regime is required in the UK to ensure these markets continue to deliver benefits to consumers, businesses and the economy as a whole.”

Rosewell said regulators globally were looking at Google’s dominance in search, online advertising and browsers.

“However, their efforts to mitigate this monopoly power will be in vain if Google manages to consolidate its dominance through the introduction of Privacy Sandbox prior to the regulators’ recommended changes to the law being implemented,” he said.

By Paul Sandle

Focus News: Google Under Review for Possible British Competition Enquiry

Kirkup to Step up as the Youngest Leader of WA Liberals

The 33-year-old Member of Parliament Zak Kirkup will become the youngest West Australian Liberal leader in 20 years as his rival pulled out shortly before the party room meeting. Kirkup’s opponent, former cabinet minister Dean Nalder, announced his withdrawal in a statement released on Tuesday, saying it was clear that the numbers were not on his side, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. “It has become apparent that I don’t have the majority support of my parliamentary colleagues and therefore will clear a path for the new leader,” Nalder told AAP. “I have been humbled at the level of support from my electorate and the wider community.” Kirkup’s victory means the Liberal party would welcome its youngest leader since Matt Birney’s short-lived reign in the mid-2000s. “I think anyone should judge a…