Mike Lee introduces bipartisan bill to break up Google ad business

Bipartisan legislation introduced Thursday takes aim at conflicts of interest in the online ads industry and would strike at the heart of Google's business model, forcing the search company to break up its dominant digital advertising business.

The Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), would ban online companies with more than $20 billion in digital ad revenue annually from participating in more than one part of the digital advertising process. The bill would affect Google and possibly Amazon.

“When you have Google simultaneously serving as a seller and a buyer and running an exchange, that gives them an unfair, undue advantage in the marketplace, one that doesn’t necessarily reflect the value they are providing,” Lee told the Wall Street Journal in an interview. “When a company can wear all these hats simultaneously, it can engage in conduct that harms everyone.”
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