FRANCE’S competition authority may open investigations into Facebook and Google in the next few months after an in-depth examination concluded the pair dominate the French online advertising market.

The regulator said Tuesday it was considering a full inquiry amid growing scrutiny from European authorities of the biggest Internet companies, whose size and sway over data collection have rapidly made them advertising giants.

“What is clear is the overwhelmingly dominant position of Google and Facebook,” president of the French competition body, Isabelle de Silva, said.

The authority’s report highlighted that the two companies acted as both publishers and technical intermediaries for advertisers, giving them a competitive advantage.

“Facebook is only one option among many others for advertisers to reach audiences,” Delphine Reyre, Facebook’s director of policy for Europe, said in a statement.

Facebook and Google accounted for 76 percent of Internet ad spending outside China in 2016, according to a report by Publicis Media agency Zenith.

The situation is the same in France, where the Internet has become the number one vehicle for advertisers, ahead of television, with more than a third of total ad spending in 2017, up 3.4 percent from 2016.

“We’ve seen many players complain about certain behaviors,” de Silva said, referring to meetings the authority had with French advertisers, service providers and publishers.

These include strategies involving bundling or tied sales, low prices, discriminatory treatment and restrictions on the possibilities of collecting and accessing certain data.

“Broadcasters, traditional media, and a range of other online platforms are increasingly using data and sophisticated targeting techniques to deliver relevant ads to users, and there is no barrier preventing other new entrants doing the same,” Facebook’s Reyre said.

The French competition authority can impose fines up to 10 percent of a company’s total yearly revenues. Any investigation takes about two years to reach a conclusion and any sanction.

(SD-Agencies)