(Reuters) – PARIS The French antitrust authority handed Facebook-owner Meta (META.O) two months to alter its access criteria for ad verification partners, claiming that the business was possibly abusing its dominant market position in online advertising.
The competition regulator said in a statement that Meta must publish new access requirements for partners wishing to use its analytical tools to analyse if online ad campaigns have been viewed by consumers and are not shown in a manner that might affect the brand’s image.
According to the document, the new criteria must be clear, objective, non-discriminatory, and proportional.
“We are reviewing the interim decision and considering all of our options,” a Meta representative stated via email.
Ad verification firms provide services such as tracking the number of views internet advertising get, identifying fraudulent online traffic, and ensuring client ads do not show on websites that are detrimental to their brand, such as pornographic sites.
According to the French organisation, Meta’s invite-only strategy provided only the largest operators access to its data and might be regarded discriminatory in the realms of the firm’s “viewability” and “brand safety” offers.
Adloox, a tiny, independent French ad verification firm, filed the lawsuit in order to get access to Meta’s data for these services from 2016 to 2022.
Adloox filed a complaint with the competition authorities last year, and the authority determined that Meta’s barrier to entry caused “immediate and grave” injury to Adloox and the independent ad verification industry as a whole.