Latest news with #CompetitionAuthority

Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Update: Amazon, Microsoft to Face Tougher UK Antitrust Investigation
(Updates with Microsoft response in the third paragraph.) Investigators at the UK's Competition a Sign in to access your portfolio


Irish Independent
21-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
‘Impoverished' shoppers getting ‘gouged' as Wexford councillor calls for creation of agency with ‘teeth to investigate anti-competitive practises'
The CCPC was established in 2014 following the amalgamation of the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority and is the statutory body responsible for promoting compliance with, and enforcing, competition and consumer protection law in Ireland. However, with customers 'getting gouged' on a daily basis, Cllr Sheehan believes it is time to create an agency which will deliver for the ordinary, everyday shopper. 'There is no competition in the basic goods and services that we purchase and use everyday,' said the independent councillor. 'While we are an affluent nation, we feel absolutely impoverished. From the producer to the supplier to the retailer, people are getting gouged. "What we need are two independent statutory agencies that have a laser-like focus on breaking up cartels, injecting competition and robustly defending consumer rights with a strong legislative arm to punish those deliberately blocking competition.' In 2022, then Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar published the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2022 to give more powers to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) and the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) to challenge anti-competitive practices by business and protect consumers. As a result, breaches of competition law can now be enforced through administrative actions taken by competition authorities, with maximum fines of up to €10 million or 10 per cent of total worldwide turnover, whichever is the greater. But Cllr Sheehan said the CCPC, in its current guise, does not have 'the teeth' to investigate breaches and anti-competitive practices, and that only by splitting the organisation in two can we effectively tackle continued inflation. 'A separate competition authority could pursue any sector and issue fines accordingly, the old competition authority was a nemesis for many industries and delivered for consumers: a new version would ensure utilities, food, finance, and the supply chains would come under the spotlight to ensure that companies are not taken advantage and that prices drop to realistic levels again,' he said. 'In addition, a new consumer authority would vociferously stand up for consumer rights to ensure that companies and retailers honour the law. Both agencies could be funded by a levy on the supernormal profits of the multinationals and outlets that are literally raking it in. 'The cost of living isn't going away soon; we need agencies which are going to meet the challenge head on.' Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.


Reuters
30-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
UK competition watchdog begins initial probe into Boeing-Spirit Aero deal
June 30 (Reuters) - Britain's competition regulator said on Monday it has begun a Phase 1 investigation into planemaker Boeing's (BA.N), opens new tab deal to acquire Spirit Aerosystems (SPR.N), opens new tab and set a deadline of August 28 for a decision. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had said last week that it was weighing a probe into whether the deal could affect competition in the country or in other markets.


TechCrunch
24-06-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
UK may require Google to give users alternative search options and rank its results ‘more fairly'
The U.K.'s competition regulator said on Tuesday it is considering a new market designation for Google that would require the search giant to provide alternative search options to users, rank search results 'more fairly,' and offer greater control to publishers over how their content is used in search and AI Overviews. Under the new Digital Markets Competition Regime that went into force earlier this year, the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it is launching a consultation on whether to designate Google with 'strategic market status.' Under that designation, which the CMA says is applicable to companies with a 'sufficiently powerful position' in their market, Google would be forced to adhere to a slew of measures, including: choice screens to let users decide and switch between search services (potentially including AI Assistants); fair ranking principles for search results; better controls for publishers in how their content — collected for search — is used in Google's AI services (including AI Overviews and Gemini AI Assistant); and ensuring people can transfer their data, such as their search history. In a blog post about the consultation and proposed designation, CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell noted that U.K. businesses spent more than £33,000 per advertiser on Google search ads last year. 'Google search accounts for more than 90% of all general search queries in the UK, with millions of people relying on it as a key gateway to the internet […] If competition was working well, we would expect these costs to be lower,' wrote Cardell. 'These targeted and proportionate actions would give UK businesses and consumers more choice and control over how they interact with Google's search services — as well as unlocking greater opportunities for innovation across the UK tech sector and broader economy,' Cardell said in a separate statement. The CMA is currently collecting opinions on this designation and the proposed measures from industry stakeholders, and will make a decision on the designation by October 13. Google did not immediately return a request for comment.


Irish Times
24-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Google faces UK push to loosen its grip on search
The UK's competition regulator is proposing to loosen Google' s control of its search engine in the first application of Britain's tough new digital market rules. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Tuesday that Google could be required to implement new 'fair ranking' measures in its search results and give publishers more control over how it uses their content, including in output generated by artificial intelligence. The CMA said it was minded to hand Google 'strategic market status' (SMS) – a label introduced under new digital market laws this year – in light of its dominant position in search and search advertising, which would require the tech giant to abide by a number of such conduct rules. A final decision will be made by October following a public consultation. READ MORE The Big Tech giant became the first company to be targeted under strict new UK digital laws that require businesses with an outsized impact in certain digital markets to be granted the SMS label and subjected to specific rules. The CMA's investigation, which was opened in January, examined whether Google's position in search and advertising was 'delivering good outcomes' for consumers and businesses in the UK. [ Google suffers blow at EU's top court over record €4.12bn competition fine Opens in new window ] 'Google is the world's leading search tool and plays an important role in all our lives, with the average person in the UK making five to 10 searches a day,' said Sarah Cardell, the CMA's chief executive. 'Our investigation so far suggests there are ways to make these markets more open, competitive and innovative.' Other conduct rules that the CMA is considering include requirements in how it ranks its search results and for Google's distribution partners such as Apple to offer 'choice screens' to help consumers switch more easily between search providers. Bobby Healy on why Manna drone delivery could be the 'biggest technology company in the world for its space' Listen | 67:08 The CMA said Alphabet-owned Google's dominance made the cost of search advertising 'higher than would be expected' in a more competitive market. Google on Tuesday slammed the proposals as 'broad and unfocused' and said they could threaten the UK's access to its latest products and services. [ Google's wobble reflects rising threat of AI to its business model Opens in new window ] Oliver Bethell, Google's senior director for competition, warned that 'punitive regulations' could change how quickly Google launches new products in the UK. 'Proportionate, evidence-based regulation will be essential to preventing the CMA's roadmap from becoming a roadblock to growth in the UK,' he added. Bethell's warning of the potential impact of any regulations on the wider UK economy comes after the government explicitly mandated the CMA to focus on supporting growth and investment while minimising uncertainty for businesses. Google said last year that it planned to invest $1bn in a huge new data centre just outside London. The CMA's probe comes after Google lost a pair of historic US antitrust cases over its dominance of search and its lucrative advertising business. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025