Google’s Competitors Lobbying EU to Launch Ad Antitrust Investigation

August will not be a relaxing month for Google’s European staffers. At least two advertising tech companies are lobbying European Union officials to launch an antitrust investigation into Google’s suite of ad products. Google, as you know, is currently facing two investigations in the EU: A formal one on its comparative shopping service, and a probe into Android.

Google has until August 17 to respond to the shopping suit, after an extension. Two of the “several” companies now crying foul in Brussels: OpenX and AppNexus, which is funded by Microsoft and ad giant WPP. At issue is whether Google locks clients into its products, particularly the display ad network DoubleClick, through contracts that dissuade or explicitly prohibit them from taking business elsewhere. It’s a “bundling” argument similar to the Android case. The ad tech rivals have not filed a formal complaint, as in the two pending EU cases, but merely aired grievances to European lawmakers, according to a source familiar with the conversations. Both companies declined to comment. Google offered this rebuttal in a statement: “We are always working to make our products work more seamlessly together, but clients are not required to use any of our DoubleClick products -- separately or together.”