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Türkiye’s antitrust government body, the Turkish Competition Authority, announced Friday that it has launched a formal investigation into Google over concerns that its artificial intelligence-based advertising service, Performance Max (PMAX), may be abusing the company’s dominant position in online advertising markets.
According to an official announcement published on the authority’s website, the probe aims to determine whether Google is leveraging its power in search-based advertising to unfairly strengthen its position in other areas of online advertising via the PMAX campaign. The investigation also seeks to evaluate whether the tech giant has imposed exploitative practices on advertisers and hindered fair competition by combining data across its platforms.
The investigation centers on potential violations of Turkish competition law, which prohibits the abuse of dominant market positions. The authority noted that Google may have leveraged its strong position in search advertising to extend its market power to other advertising channels, including YouTube, Google Maps, and the Google Display Network. Additional concerns involve the large-scale collection of user data across Google’s services—such as the Chrome browser and Android operating system—which, when combined, may provide the company with an unfair competitive advantage in the advertising market.
Regulators are particularly focused on PMAX’s lack of transparency and its limited control options for advertisers. The authority believes that these factors may create conditions for exploitative practices, such as depriving advertisers from performance metrics and access to information on ad placements.
Launched by Google in 2021, Performance Max allows advertisers to access all of Google’s ad inventory through a single campaign. Unlike traditional ad types, PMAX uses machine learning to dynamically determine which Google platform will yield the highest conversion rates for each ad in real time. This includes inventory across Google Search, YouTube, Shopping, Discover, and more.
While the service promises greater efficiency and automation, Turkish regulators are now questioning whether the system’s structure may distort competition and harm advertisers.
The authority underlined that opening an investigation does not imply that Google has violated the law or will necessarily face penalties. It is instead an initial procedural step to further assess the allegations and collect evidence.
The investigation will evaluate whether the integration of services and the AI-driven allocation of ad inventory have led to anti-competitive outcomes in Türkiye’s digital advertising market.
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