ACCC to prise open Google, Facebook ‘blackboxes’ in ad tech inquiry
The nation’s top consumer cop Rod Sims has been authorised to demand Google and Facebook hand over information on the “black boxes” they use to target Aussies with highly personalised advertisements.
NSW
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The nation’s top consumer cop Rod Sims has been authorised to demand Google and Facebook hand over information on the “black boxes” they use to target Aussies with highly personalised advertisements.
Josh Frydenberg has formally directed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) boss to begin an inquiry into “ad tech services”, with interim findings due by the end of this year and a final report to be delivered by August 31, 2021.
The Treasurer’s direction triggers the ACCC’s ability to use section 95ZK of its Act, which forces people to produce “within the specified period and in the specified manner, specified documents”.
The ACCC said it wanted to run an in-depth investigation into ad-tech services after completing its 18-month digital platforms inquiry last year.
The federal government agreed, and Mr Frydenberg’s formal direction unleashes a new 20-member digital platforms team within the ACCC.
“With digital platforms collecting and using enormous volumes of personal information, consumers need to be properly informed about the data collected, how it is being used and by who,” Mr Frydenberg said.
The digital platforms inquiry final report found a key problem in Australia’s $8 billion-a-year online advertising market was “a lack of transparency as to the prices charged by suppliers of advertising services and various ad-tech suppliers, and the proportion of value appropriated by firms operating at different levels of the … supply chain.
“This opacity is compounded by the ‘black box’ operation of various algorithms and auction processes which determine both the serving and ranking of ads.”
The ACCC’s compulsory information-gathering powers under s95ZK should allow it to prise open those black boxes to see whether advertisers are getting value for money.
Mr Frydenberg said “the government recognises that there is a need for reform to better protect consumers, improve transparency, address power imbalances and ensure that substantial market power is not used to lessen competition in media and advertising services markets.”
The Treasurer has also authorised a broader ongoing inquiry into Google and Facebook, as requested by the ACCC in its final report.
“Over 98 per cent of online searches on mobile devices are with Google, while Facebook has approximately 17 million Australian users,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“Given this incredible level of market concentration, it is critical that these companies continue to be closely monitored,” he said.
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