European Commission starts investigation into Google because of Fitbit acquisition

The European Commission begins an investigation into the acquisition of Fitbit by Google. The EC is concerned that Google will use the Fitbit data to unfairly strengthen its market position. Google itself says it does not intend to.

The Commission is opening an official investigation into Google, after it had previously conducted an exploratory investigation. There have been rumors that the EC wanted such an investigation. It concerns last year’s acquisition of Fitbit. Google then paid 1.88 billion euros for the maker of fitness trackers.

The EC is especially concerned about the access that Google gets to data from Fitbit users. Those concerns are specifically about online searches and the ads that come with them, and ‘ad tech services’ themselves. “By acquiring Fitbit, Google will get the database on Fitbit users and their health, and the technology to create a similar database itself,” writes Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

The data that Google receives with the acquisition could potentially provide a major advantage in the online advertising market. “That data advantage in ad personalization makes it more difficult for rivals to compete with Google’s online advertising services,” writes Vestager. The Commission believes that Google already has a dominant position in that market in European countries. The takeover would only strengthen that position.

The Commission is also looking at two other cases. For example, the researchers want to see the effect of the takeover on the ‘digital health sector’, which in Europe is ‘still in a growing phase’. The Commission also wants to know what opportunities and interests Google has to thwart competing wearable services, for example by deteriorating the operation on Android.

Google says in a blog post that it wants to participate in the investigation. The company reiterates that it is acquiring Fitbit because of the hardware, not the data. During the first phase of the investigation, Google already proposed separating the data it collects through Fitbit services from other profile data, but the solution that the company proposed was not enough for the EC.