On Thursday, a group of Republicans and Democrats introduced a new bill in the Senate that could force Google and Facebook’s parent company Meta to spin off its online ad business, the Wall Street Journal first reported.
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 that Process more than $20 billion per year in digital advertising transactions, operating more than part of the digital advertising ecosystem.
The restrictions would directly impact Google, which tech cartel hawks have long viewed as a vertical display advertising monopoly. Omidyar network adviser David Dinielli took the case straight to Congress in 2020 as testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. Timed auctions that bring buyers and sellers together and set the price.”
The restrictions would directly impact Google, which tech cartel hawks have long viewed as a vertical display advertising monopoly
Asked for comment, Google spokeswoman Julie Tarallo McAlister said the proposed law would ultimately harm users. “Advertising tools from Google and many of its competitors are helping American websites and apps fund their content, help businesses grow, and protect users from privacy risks and misleading advertising,” Tarallo McAlister told The Verge on Thursday. “Breaking these tools would harm publishers and advertisers, reduce ad quality and create new privacy risks. And at a time of heightened inflation, this would hamper small businesses looking for easy and effective ways to grow online.”
The Journal reports that a similar measure is expected to be introduced this week by MPs Ken Buck (R-CO) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).
For Google, the bill could require the company to divest the majority of its digital advertising business. Google’s advertising marketplace earns the company billions each quarter, raking in $54 billion across search, YouTube and its ad networks in the first quarter of this year alone.
Big Tech’s dominance of online advertising has drawn criticism from lawmakers and law enforcement officials across the country in recent years. In 2020, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton led a lawsuit involving more than a dozen attorneys general, accusing Google of misleading publishers and advertisers about how it processed and priced ads.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, would also likely need to divest large parts of its advertising business. The measure would also introduce new rules for smaller businesses that process more than $5 billion in digital ads annually, like providing transparency on pricing and acting in the best interests of consumers.
In a statement Thursday, Google called the measure “the wrong bill at the wrong time, targeting the wrong target,” and accused “low-quality data brokers” of the most damaging behavior in the industry.”