Google’s Ad-Tech Dominance May Face Probe by EU

Financial Times: Google is facing a new threat in its legal battle with Brussels, as its rivals ask regulators to probe the group’s dominance of the technology at the heart of the $60 billion market for online display advertising. Several companies — including OpenX and AppNexus, which is part-owned by WPP and Microsoft — have visited the European Commission to argue that Google may be unlawfully stifling competition in the market for ad tech. The grievances relate to the way in which Google allegedly “ties and bundles” its ad tech products through contracts that discourage or prevent customers from using rival services.