The German competition regulator Bundeskartellamt Wednesday published a decision determining that Google fulfills the criteria for companies having paramount significance for competition across markets. The Bundeskartellamt can now proceed against Google under the recently introduced Section 19a GWB, which seeks to limit the anticompetitive effects of large digital companies in the digital economy.

The Bundeskartellamt initiated proceedings against Google in May last year to determine whether the company is of paramount significance across markets. It found that the vast range of services offered by Google are highly sought after and widely used by businesses across markets. It holds more than 80 percent of the market shares for general search services in Germany and is the primary search advertising provider. Google is thereby in a dominant position and can access a “broad and deep database and further consolidate, expand or otherwise use its position to its own advantage without sufficient control by competition.”

In announcing the decision to subject Alphabet Inc and its subsidiary Google to extended abuse control, the President of the Bundeskartellamt Andreas Mundt stated:

This is a very important step since based on this decision the Bundeskartellamt can now take action against specific anti-competitive practices by Google. We have already started to look into Google’s processing of personal data and to deal with the Google News Showcase issue in more detail. At the same time, we are vigorously conducting other proceedings against Amazon, Apple and Meta, formerly Facebook.

The Bundeskartellamt is expected to draw upon this decision in its ongoing proceedings examining Google’s data processing terms and News Showcase service. The competition regulator is also investigating Facebook (now Meta) on similar grounds in proceedings relating to the link between Oculus and Facebook.