Yahoo Autos UK closes 'Jedi Blue' antitrust collusion case against Google and Meta
The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) won't be pursuing an anticompetition collusion case against Google and Facebook's parent Meta, following a similar decision made by its counterparts in the Europe Union.
However, Google will remain under the CMA's spotlight, with parts of the Google-Meta case now being bundled with a separate ongoing antitrust against Google.
Jedi Blue
The case in question relates to online display advertising, focusing on an alleged agreement between Google and Facebook dating back to 2018, dubbed "Jedi Blue." The deal reportedly meant that Google would give Facebook preferential treatment in terms of ad rates, placements and access to data, in exchange for Facebook distancing itself from an alternative programmatic advertising system called header bidding, which would have cut into Google's coffers.
Both companies denied any wrongdoing, saying that there was no exclusivity agreed between them.
However, authorities in the EU and the U.K. announced parallel investigations exactly a year ago today, though the European Commission quietly closed its part of the investigation into the deal back in December, giving little in the way of any reason for its decision. That same day though, the Commission initiated a separate investigation into Meta over the way it ties together its social network and Marketplace classified ads service, alleging that the company was abusing its dominant market position.
Now, the U.K.'s CMA has revealed that it is closing its case against the duo on "administrative priority grounds." Administrative priorities constitute a fairly broad gamut of conditions under which the CMA deems either there isn't enough evidence to determine a law breach, or that it can't justify "continued allocation of resources" if the case "no longer fits within the CMA’s casework priorities."
In terms of determining its rationale for closing its investigation, TechCrunch has reached out to the CMA for more information but we had yet to hear back at the time of writing. However, its published guidance indicates that it might not be willing to divulge the full reasons for such decisions. It says:
The amount of detail given will vary according to the circumstances of each case. In more advanced investigations, the CMA is likely to give more details than in the case of complaints which have not been the subject of extensive investigation.
