The German Competition Regulator, the Bundeskartellamt, has today announced an investigation into Alphabet Inc, Google's parent company, in relation to Google's News Showcase.
The News Showcase is a platform through which publisher news content is available via a Google news website or app. It appears that the Bundeskartellamt concerns relate to whether the tech giant will discriminate between individual platforms on that platform, or foreclose competing offerings from publishers or other news providers.
Reuters reports that Google has responded by stating that the News Showcase "was one of many ways it supported journalism, building on products and funds that all publishers can benefit from."
The announcement can be found here.
The announcement follows one on 25 May 2021 that the Bundeskartellamt was investigating Google's position in relation to data processing terms and the company's significance for competition across markets (see here).
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