Belgian watchdog opens probe into Google's online ad price practices

Feb 27 (Reuters) - ‌Belgium's competition ​watchdog ​said on Friday it had opened an investigation into ‌the sale of online ads by ⁠Google.

* The competition authorities said they had "seriousindications" ‌that Google's model for ‌selling online ads was inbreach of antitrust rules, as the company ​appeared to be abusingits market power. * The investigation is in ⁠a preliminary phase and theoutcome is unclear, they said. * ​Google is already the subject of several European Unionantitrust investigations ​and has been fined ‌billions of euros inEurope for antitrust violations in recent ⁠years. * Earlier this month, in a letter to advertisers, Googlesaid it also risked ⁠another antitrust investigation by theEuropean Commission over ​concerns it may be unfairly drivingonline advertising prices higher. * Google, which dominates the multibillion-dollar ‌onlineadvertising market, said at the time that Google Search ‌ads helpsmall businesses to compete with ⁠the biggest brands ‌and keep ​theweb free for everyone.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer. Editing by Mark ‌Potter)

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