On Thursday, Canada’s competition authority accused Google of using its online advertising tools to establish a monopoly and filed a complaint demanding that the company sell two of its key advertising technology services.

This case directly challenges the core of Google’s business model and mirrors an ongoing antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant in the U.S.

Both legal actions come amid a broader series of lawsuits against Google in the U.S. since 2020, along with global efforts by regulators to rein in the influence of major tech companies like Google, Amazon, and Apple, who hold significant power over online information and commerce.

Canada is also pursuing new legislation aimed at curbing the negative impact of social media and ensuring that tech companies compensate traditional news outlets.

In a statement, the Bureau of Competition Policy, Canada’s law enforcement agency, accused Google of abusing its dominant position in the online advertising industry. The bureau claimed that Google, as the largest provider of ad-buying software, the ad auction marketplace, and ad display services, has unfairly maintained control over the sector.

The agency stated that Google’s actions have allowed it to solidify its market dominance, forcing users to rely on its advertising tools and preventing competitors from succeeding based on the quality of their offerings.

In addition to requesting that the Canadian Competition Tribunal, a quasi-judicial body, compel Google to divest two of its advertising services, the bureau is seeking a fine of up to 3 percent of Google’s global revenues, which surpassed $305 billion last year. Google’s ad tech services alone generated approximately $31 billion in revenue globally in 2023.

The bureau is also calling for the tribunal to issue an order prohibiting Google from engaging in further anticompetitive behavior.

Similar demands were made in the U.S. antitrust case brought by the Justice Department and eight states. Closing arguments in that case concluded on Monday, and a judge is expected to rule in the coming months.

As with the U.S. case in 2023, Google has rejected the Canadian allegations.

“The case overlooks the strong competition in the market where advertisers and publishers have ample choices, and we are eager to present our defense in court,” Dan Taylor, Google’s vice president of global ads, said in a statement.

According to the Bureau, Google controls four of the largest online ad tech services in Canada, commanding between 40 and 90 percent of the market share. These services are involved in roughly 200 billion dollars of online ad transactions annually in the country. Google acquired many of these services by purchasing other companies that had developed them.

The bureau emphasized that Google’s dominance in the ad tech space is intentional, stating that the company has unlawfully integrated its various ad tech products through interconnected actions.

For instance, advertisers bidding on ad space in Google’s online auction must also use Google’s automated auction system. On the publisher side, the bureau alleged that Google imposes restrictive terms on publishers who wish to use third-party ad tech tools while listing ad opportunities in its auction system.

Furthermore, the bureau claimed that Google sometimes deliberately loses money on its ad services to undercut competitors.