In 2024, Canada’s Competition Bureau filed suit against Google over its DoubleClick/AdX operations, alleging practices that restrict fair competition in digital advertising. For many Canadian CMOs, this may feel like a faraway courtroom battle. In reality, it’s a direct turning point in how brands will buy, measure, and optimise media in Canada.
Antitrust scrutiny is no longer limited to Brussels or Washington. Canada has joined the global wave of regulators challenging the dominance of “walled-garden” platforms. The outcome will reset the rules of media buying and force marketers to re-examine their vendor strategies, data practices, and measurement frameworks.
For mid-market marketing leaders, who often rely on a small set of partners and platforms, this is a moment to act. The right strategic moves now can help safeguard performance, strengthen compliance, and create resilience in a shifting ecosystem.
The Competition Bureau’s mandate is clear: preserve competition and protect consumers. Historically, most of its interventions in advertising were focused on false or misleading claims. Today, attention has expanded to the infrastructure that underpins the $14B Canadian digital ad market.
The Google Case
The Bureau alleges that Google has leveraged its dominance in both supply (publisher ad servers) and demand (ad exchanges) to preference its own marketplace, restricting fair access for rivals and driving up costs for advertisers. The parallels with U.S. and EU cases are striking:
United States: The Department of Justice’s ongoing lawsuit against Google’s ad-tech stack could lead to a forced divestiture of DoubleClick.
European Union: Brussels has already issued record fines and mandated data-sharing remedies in response to anti-competitive behaviour in programmatic advertising.
Timeline of Action
Marketers should expect these proceedings to move slowly. But experience abroad suggests that changes to auction mechanics, reporting standards, and vendor relationships will begin well before verdicts are finalized.
The ripple effects of Canada’s antitrust scrutiny will be felt across every corner of the media ecosystem. For CMOs, this won’t be an abstract legal debate, it will change how campaigns are bought, measured, and managed day to day.
On the media buying front, the way auctions operate is likely to evolve. If regulators succeed in forcing greater transparency, advertisers may finally get a clearer view of where fees are being extracted and how bids are prioritized. That could create more competition among exchanges, which in turn may push CPMs down and open up access to publisher inventory that’s historically been locked inside Google’s ecosystem. For brands, this means media teams will have to sharpen their approach to vendor selection and keep a closer eye on auction dynamics than ever before.
Data and measurement will also sit at the centre of this transition. Just as cookies disappear and privacy regulations tighten, antitrust actions are accelerating the shift to clean-room models and more collaborative approaches to data sharing. Instead of relying on identifiers that span across platforms, marketers will need to lean into their own first-party data and find privacy-safe ways to connect it with publishers. The tools may be different, but the underlying challenge is the same: proving impact without overstepping regulatory boundaries.
And then there’s the question of vendor relationships. For years, many Canadian marketers defaulted to a handful of dominant platforms because they promised efficiency and scale. That era is drawing to a close. In its place, we’re likely to see more multi-partner strategies emerge, where brands stitch together demand-side platforms, supply-side partners, and independent measurement providers into a more flexible architecture. It will be more complex, no doubt. Procurement and legal teams will need to get more involved, and contracts will need to carry stronger transparency and compliance provisions. But that complexity comes with an upside: less dependence on any one platform, and more leverage for marketers in negotiating terms and accessing quality inventory.
1. Diversify Your Ad-Tech Stack
Don’t wait for the courts. Begin testing alternative DSPs and SSPs now. Evaluate open-source ad servers that give you greater control and transparency. Diversification not only reduces dependency risk but can also improve performance through competitive bidding.
2. Strengthen First-Party Data Activation
With third-party cookies fading and regulators mandating transparency, first-party data is your most durable asset. But scale and governance matter.
3. Reinvent Measurement
Outdated last-click models won’t survive. CMOs must invest in new frameworks that balance accountability with privacy.
4. Align Legal and Procurement Early
Regulatory complexity requires upstream safeguards. Embed compliance into every vendor engagement.
Canada’s antitrust action against Google is more than a legal story, it’s a signal that the foundations of digital advertising are shifting. For CMOs, the risk is not regulatory penalties but strategic inertia.
The future media ecosystem will be more transparent, multi-partner, and data-driven. Marketers who act now to diversify vendors, strengthen first-party data, and reimagine measurement will not only safeguard compliance but also sharpen their competitive edge.
Next Steps for Leaders:
The landscape may be uncertain, but the opportunity is clear: proactive CMOs can turn regulatory scrutiny into a catalyst for stronger, smarter marketing.
