Meta has agreed to provide advertising inventories and campaign data to so-called advertising technology businesses on transparent, objective, and predictable terms over five years
France's antitrust authority said, on Thursday, that it had validated commitments made by Facebook (NASDAQ: META) and its parent company, Meta Platforms, in the French internet advertising industry.
According to the French regulator, meta has agreed to provide advertising inventories and campaign data to so-called advertising technology businesses on transparent, objective, and predictable terms over five years.
"It's the first time Meta has made commitments to a competition authority (over the ad sector)," said Henri Piffaut, vice-chairman of the French competition authority.
A request for comment from Facebook was not immediately responded to. Criteo, a French online advertising group, filed a complaint, which resulted in the antitrust decision.
Meta Business Partner provides access to advertising data. Meta has committed to allowing ad tech companies to access it if a certain level of spending is met on its interface.
According to the watchdog, Meta's commitments apply to ad inventories on all its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
According to the regulator, the commitments also apply to ad tech businesses that participated in at least one ad campaign seen by Meta's users in France.
Ad tech businesses use data acquired online to participate in online ad campaigns and target Internet users with messages that match their preferences.
The general goal of the antitrust authority is to provide nondiscriminatory market conditions to the expanding number of internet businesses.
"You may establish an environment," Piffaut added, "but you shouldn't exclude a competitor."
In May, Germany's cartel office declared Meta Platforms Inc to be of "extreme importance for competition across markets," a categorization that offered Germany more leeway in limiting the market power of digital corporations.
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