The Fair Trade Commission in Japan has taken action against Google LLC, leading the search engine company to adhere to a corrective plan due to suspicions of unfairly hindering a Japanese competitor's search advertising operations. Yahoo Japan Corp., which teamed up with Google in 2010 to offer keyword-targeted search advertising services, faced restrictions imposed by Google, preventing them from delivering search advertisements to smartphone sites other than Google's own starting from November 2014.
As a result of Google's demands, Yahoo, now part of the merged LY Corp., ceased delivering such advertisements no later than September 2015. The FTC intervened and Google rescinded its demands, allowing Yahoo to resume their services in November 2022. Google voluntarily submitted a plan to the FTC under the commitment procedure, which includes a promise not to restrict providing its technology to Yahoo for three years unless authorized by the FTC, along with agreeing to external audits and compliance reporting for the next three years.
Although the FTC will monitor Google's adherence to the obligations and may reopen its investigation under the Anti-Monopoly Law if necessary, no cease-and-desist order or surcharge payment order will be issued. The search advertising market in Japan is valued at approximately 1.07 trillion yen, with Google holding a dominant 70-80 percent share as of 2019, while Yahoo is the sole competitor with the rest of the market share.