Canada’s antitrust watchdog said Thursday it is suing Google over alleged anticompetitive conduct in the tech giant’s online advertising business and wants the company to sell off two of its ad tech services and pay a penalty.

The Competition Bureau said that such action is necessary because an investigation into Google found that the company “unlawfully” tied together its ad tech tools to maintain its dominant market position.

The matter is now headed for the Competition Tribunal, a quasi-judicial body that hears cases brought forward by the competition commissioner about non-compliance with the Competition Act.

The bureau is asking the tribunal to order Google to sell its publisher ad server, DoubleClick for Publishers, and its ad exchange, AdX. It estimates Google holds a market share of 90% in publisher ad servers, 70% in advertiser networks, 60% in demand-side platforms and 50% in ad exchanges.

This dominance, the bureau said, has discouraged competition from rivals, inhibited innovation, inflated advertising costs and reduced publisher revenues.

“Google has abused its dominant position in online advertising in Canada by engaging in conduct that locks market participants into using its own ad tech tools, excluding competitors, and distorting the competitive process,” Matthew Boswell, Commissioner of Competition, said in a statement.

Google, however, maintains the online advertising market is a highly competitive sector.

Dan Taylor, Google’s vice president of global ads, said in a statement that the bureau’s complaint “ignores the intense competition where ad buyers and sellers have plenty of choice.”

The statement added that Google intends to defend itself against the allegation.

U.S. regulators want a federal judge to break up Google to prevent the company from continuing to squash competition through its dominant search engine after a court found it had maintained an abusive monopoly over the past decade.

The proposed breakup, floated in a 23-page document filed this month by the U.S. Department of Justice, calls for sweeping punishments that would include a sale of Google’s industry-leading Chrome web browser and impose restrictions to prevent Android from favoring its own search engine.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled in August that “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.” He outlined a timeline for a trial on proposed remedies next spring and plans to issue a decision by August 2025.

Mehta also found that Google in 2021 Google paid about $26 billion to Apple and other partners to ensure its search engine would be the default one on internet browsers.  

His ruling stemmed from a Justice Department antitrust lawsuit first filed against Google in October 2020 during the first Trump administration. 

Google has already said it plans to appeal Mehta’s ruling, but the tech giant must wait until he finalizes a remedy before doing so. The appeals process could take as long as five years, predicts George Hay, a law professor at Cornell University who was the chief economist for the Justice Department’s antitrust division for most of the 1970s.

And in January 2023, the Justice Department and several states filed a separate lawsuit against Google claiming it has an illegal monopoly over online advertising.  

NEW YORK — The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade officially kicked off the holiday season Thursday in New York City. 

A steady rain fell over the festivities, and pro-Palestinian demonstrators briefly disrupted the parade for a second year in a row. 

The NYPD said a25 people were arrested after sitting down on the parade route with Palestinian flags and a banner reading, “Don’t Celebrate Genocide.” All of them were charged with trespassing and received summonses. 

Despite the dreary weather, CBS News New York’s Jenna DeAngelis reported it didn’t get in the way of the magic. 

“You feel it and forget about it, so we’re happy to be here,” said one person who traveled from Baltimore. 

Linwood Burden, who is 72 years old, came from Georgia to check the parade off his bucket list . 

“I’m so excited about being here, the weather’s no problem,” she said. “Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be here, so this is an opportunity.”

The annual holiday tradition stepped off at 8:30 a.m. from Central Park West, then marched down Sixth Avenue to Macy’s flagship store at Herald Square. 

It featured more than 5,000 volunteers, 34 fan-favorite floats and 22 giant balloons, including some newcomers like Minnie Mouse and Marshall from “PAW Patrol.” One new float celebrated the Bronx Zoo’s 125th anniversary with a tiger, giraffe, zebra and gorilla.

There was also an appearance from the WNBA champion New York Liberty and, of course, the one and only Santa Claus. 

“Just being here with the people I love, celebrating Thanksgiving with all these people, and I have to thank the NYPD for keeping us safe today,” said Nanuet resident Shane Cullen. 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday there were no credible threats against the parade, but law enforcement agencies would be prepared to keep people safe.

The city’s new police commissioner spent time Thursday thanking the officers who were on duty.

“I started my career as an intelligence analyst at the NYPD and have incredible intelligence analysts working here,” Tisch said.

The parade has only been canceled three times — from 1942 to 1944 during World War II. The giant balloon characters are not allowed to fly if sustained winds exceed 23 mph or gusts are over 35 mph, but winds stayed around 10 mph Thursday morning.

Following the parade, the Sanitation Department, using 32 hand brooms, 29 mechanical brooms, 23 backpack blowers and 23 collection trucks, conducted a swift cleanup. Last year, it removed more than 65 tons of debris. 

Jenna DeAngelis

Jenna DeAngelis is an Emmy award winning journalist. She joined CBS News New York as a general assignment reporter in March 2018.