Google faces ad monopoly charges in Canada, probe in India over app policies

In a nutshell: Following the example step by the US Justice Department, Canada's Competition Bureau has sued Google for allegedly pursuing anti-competitive practices in the online advertising market. As if that were not enough for Google to worry about, India's competition watchdog also ordered a probe into the company's policies on real-money gaming apps on Google Play.

The Canadian Competition Bureau (CCB) has alleged that Google's online advertising business is anti-competitive. The regulator demands that the company sell off two of its ad tech services and pay a hefty fine for abusing its dominant market position. The disputed businesses include Google's publisher ad server, DoubleClick for Publishers, and its ad exchange, AdX.

Google's market share in Canada is around 90 percent in publisher ad servers, 70 percent in advertiser networks, 60 percent in demand-side platforms, and 50 percent in ad exchanges. The agency claims ...