Canada is Google’s latest antitrust legal challenger

Canada’s antitrust watchdog said Thursday it is suing Google, the largest provider of adtech services in the country.

Canada’s antitrust watchdog is suing Google over its anti-competitive conduct in its adtech business, the country’s Competition Bureau said Thursday.

The Competition Bureau, Canada’s independent law enforcement agency responsible for regulating anti-competitive conduct, wants the tech giant to sell two of its adtech products and pay a fine that could total up to 3% of its global gross revenue.

The antitrust watchdog said Google is the largest provider of adtech services in Canada and has “abused” its position to maintain market dominance.

“Google’s conduct locks market participants into using its own adtech tools, prevents rivals from being able to compete on the merits of their offering, and otherwise distorts the competitive process,” the antitrust watchdog said.

This suit is the latest in a series of legal challenges against Google for alleged anti-competitive behavior.

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice urged District Judge Amit Mehta to force Google to sell off its Chrome browser as a remedy in a landmark antitrust case. In August, Judge Mehta found that Google holds an illegal monopoly in its search business.

In September, the Department of Justice and 17 state attorneys general brought an antitrust suit against Google in the Eastern District of Virginia over its alleged digital ad market monopoly.

That same month, Europe’s top court also upheld a 2017 decision in another antitrust case against Google, where it was ordered to pay a €2.4 billion fine.

Advertising is crucial to Google’s business. Google parent Alphabet has reported $220.8 billion in revenue from advertising for the first nine months of the year — 87% of its total revenue during that same time period.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.