In the course of the past year, the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition conducted a preliminary investigation into a potential abuse of dominance by Google Czech Republic, s.r.o., as well as its affiliated entities, Google International LLC and Google Ireland Ltd. The inquiry concerned the functioning of the Google Merchant Center (GMC) service. The proceedings were closed without the initiation of a formal administrative procedure, following remedial measures voluntarily implemented by Google that addressed the competition concerns identified by the Office.
The Office’s inquiry focused on whether Google may have engaged in discriminatory conduct in the operation of the GMC service, potentially infringing competition law by applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions, thereby placing certain undertakings at a competitive disadvantage.
GMC is a free platform operated by Google that serves as a central repository for product data used in online advertising. It enables the detection and correction of errors in product listings and metadata. Importantly, maintaining an active GMC account is a necessary condition for the placement of paid product advertisements through Google Ads. However, certain categories of goods, including variable-priced items such as investment gold, silver, and bullion, are excluded from GMC under Google’s internal classification rules, specifically those designated under the “Currency” category.
The matter originated from a complaint submitted to the Office by a business whose GMC account was suspended, along with its advertising campaigns for investment gold, silver, and related products. The complainant alleged that comparable products from other undertakings remained accessible and advertised via GMC. Despite raising the issue through Google’s official dispute resolution mechanisms, no corrective measures were taken by the company.
The Office’s preliminary assessment confirmed that the complainant’s concerns were not unfounded. The investigation revealed that while investment precious metals are generally categorized as unsupported content, such goods were nevertheless being offered on the GMC platform by other market participants. Furthermore, the Office found indications that the relevant GMC terms of service were not being applied uniformly. In practice, some undertakings were permitted to advertise content that others were prohibited from promoting, despite offering identical or similar products. This conduct had the potential to distort competition in the market for investment gold and silver in the Czech Republic, adversely affecting both business operators and consumer choice.
In response to the Office’s intervention, Google adopted a set of corrective measures. These included: a revision of the keyword detection mechanisms used to identify unsupported content, a manual audit of existing listings on the GMC platform, and the implementation of targeted training for personnel responsible for administering the service, with a focus on ensuring consistent and non-discriminatory application of the relevant policies.
The Office evaluated the measures taken by Google as adequate to remedy the identified concerns. Consequently, it opted to conclude the matter without initiating formal administrative proceedings, relying instead on tools of competition advocacy.
Pierstone