Google is currently provoking the advertising industry with its plan to ban cookies from its Chrome browser.
The small files that an internet access program stores on a computer or a smartphone make it possible for content creators and advertisers to track users when they return to a website or other pages.
Ultimately, this creates a profile and companies can target advertising for the needs of consumers.
Gregory Bruner
Editor in Business.
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Marcus Young
Editor in Business.
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According to the latest data from the Federal Statistical Office, Chrome is the most popular browser in Germany with a 23 percent market share.
So if the Internet company implements its plan, this would lead to greater losses in sales for the advertising industry.
From the second half of 2024, Google wants to replace cookies in its systems with "topics".
As a result, the Chrome browser creates its own user interest profile, which means that personalized advertising can continue to be displayed.
The big difference from before: Google could decide who sees which advertising and which not.
The proceeds would also be concentrated at Google.
Google's market power in the area of search engine advertising is considerable.
In combination, Google's share of the global advertising market is expected to be around 30 percent by 2022.
This calls antitrust authorities on the plan.
In Europe, the group is involved in numerous disputes with state competition authorities and data protection authorities.
Last year, the French competition authority fined Google €220 million for misusing its advertising technology for its own benefit.
The so-called supply-side platforms were disadvantaged.
The segment serves the interfaces between the operator of a website and advertisers.
Class action lawsuits by media houses
According to the French, the practices are "particularly serious" because among those disadvantaged are press associations whose economic model has been seriously weakened by the decline in newspaper subscription sales.
With its position, Google has a “special responsibility”, according to the competition authority.
Now the dispute is spreading further: The French law firm Geradin Partners has announced two large-volume class action lawsuits in the Netherlands and Great Britain, which numerous publishers and media houses are to join.
The lawyers speak of potential damage of up to 25 billion euros that those affected could claim.
Geradin Partners also represented the plaintiff in the French case last year.
The class actions will be based on the findings of the decision.
Because the decision states that Google can have harmed any publisher in Europe who sells advertising on its websites or apps.
Google no longer contested this.
"Publishers, including local and national news media, which play an important role in our society, have long been harmed by Google's anti-competitive behavior," attorney Damien Geradin said in a statement.
It is time for Google to take responsibility and pay back the damage it has done to this important industry.
In the Netherlands, a collective action by affected publishers from EU member states is being sought.
The Dutch judiciary is experienced in dealing with such large-scale proceedings.
The second lawsuit in Great Britain, on the other hand, is to be filed directly with the appellate body for competition issues.
It aims to obtain compensation for lost revenue from the sale of advertising space.
Both lawsuits are accompanied by litigation financiers, so if they are successful, they keep part of the sum won for themselves.
Upon request, Google said that cookie technology is increasingly being misused and is a privacy issue.
Until the planned changeover in 2024, the group also has to fight a dispute in Germany.
Following on from class action lawsuits in the Netherlands and Great Britain, the Media Association of the Free Press (MVFP) is informing its members of the possibility of class action lawsuits in this country.
This is accompanied by the law firm Hausfeld, which is known for its litigation against Volkswagen and the truck cartel, and the litigation financier Ad Claim.
The Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) supports the project.
“The matter is extremely complex.
Individual lawsuits would be associated with high risks and costs," it said a few days ago in a statement on the "AdTech class action".