Triggered by complaints from newspaper association, antitrust watchdog revisits claims of unfair search practices impacting media traffic.
Brazil’s antitrust authority, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), has reopened an investigation into Google over alleged abuse of its dominant position in the search market and the use of journalistic content from third-party sites.
The probe concerns claims that the tech giant has engaged in “scraping” news content from other websites, displaying it directly in its search results and thereby diverting traffic away from news outlets. The case is scheduled for review by CADE’s tribunal next Wednesday (28).
By presenting news content on its own platforms, Google may be siphoning off user traffic that would otherwise go directly to the original news publishers’ websites. For these publishers, fewer clicks translate into less ad revenue—an increasingly critical issue in the digital age.
In addition, news organizations have raised concerns that Google may be prioritizing its own services in search results, further disadvantaging independent media.
The investigation was initially launched in 2018 but was shelved in December 2024 by CADE’s General Superintendence.
In March of this year, CADE Commissioner Camila Cabral Pires Alves recommended the case be reopened. In her statement, she pointed to recent actions by regulatory authorities in countries like Belgium and France to scrutinize Google’s role in the digital news ecosystem.
“These discussions reflect growing concerns about the digital market and the need to balance the interests of platforms and content publishers,”
Ms. Alves wrote in her opinion backing the investigation’s revival.
Globally, Google is under investigation by the European Commission—the executive body of the European Union—for potential violations of the Digital Markets Act, a regulation designed to rein in the power of large tech firms.
In the Brazilian case, the National Association of Newspapers (ANJ) alleges that news outlets have experienced audience declines due to the practice of content scraping. The association argues that by displaying headlines and excerpts, Google boosts its own visibility while disincentivizing users from clicking through to the original sources.
ANJ’s CEO, Mr. Marcelo Rech, emphasized the importance of CADE’s scrutiny of the case.
“We believe it is essential for CADE to extend its examination, especially now that antitrust agencies worldwide are reviewing the effects of platform business models. Brazil has always led discussions on anticompetitive behavior, and it would be senseless to ignore this debate at a time when the era of artificial intelligence is just beginning,”
he said.
The ANJ hopes that CADE’s final decision will require Google to reach a compensation agreement with news websites, creating a more equitable revenue distribution model. Similar arrangements have already been adopted in rulings by other countries addressing the same issue.
Source: Valor International
