The head of the competition watchdog is vowing to launch a regulatory war against Facebook, Apple and Google this year including investigations across the digital advertising and app markets, warning the tech giants' dominance poses a danger to consumers and the competition landscape.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims said public outrage against News Corp led by former prime minister Kevin Rudd was disproportionate to the Rupert Murdoch-controlled company's size, yet the public seemed largely apathetic or ignorant to the danger of Google and Facebook's influence over the public consumption of news.