EU Reviews Google Fitbit Acquisition for Antitrust Concerns

Google Revealed Plan to Acquire Fitbit for $2.1 Billion Last November
EU Expresses Concern Over Use of Health Data Collected from Wearable Devices for Targeted Advertising

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The European Union (EU) Commission plans to investigate whether Google's acquisition of the wearable device company Fitbit raises antitrust concerns. As the use of wearable devices in Europe is expected to explode in the coming years, concerns have been raised that Google, which virtually monopolizes the online advertising market, might further solidify its market position by utilizing user information.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 4th (local time), Margrethe Vestager, EU Commissioner for Competition, stated, "We will examine whether market competition is distorted as Google gains control over data collected through wearable devices."

Last November, Google announced it would acquire Fitbit for $2.1 billion (approximately 2.5 trillion KRW). Through this, Google aims to catch up with Apple and Samsung Electronics in the rapidly growing wearable device market. Fitbit is a type of smartwatch that collects and informs users about health-related data. It measures health information such as the user's daily step count, running distance, calories burned, exercise amount, heart rate, and sleep duration.

The EU is concerned that Google, which virtually monopolizes the online advertising market, might strengthen its market control further through the acquisition of Fitbit.

Commissioner Vestager said, "Consumer use of wearable devices in the European market is expected to increase significantly over the next few years, which means that data generated through wearable devices will increase explosively. Especially since this data contains sensitive and core information such as consumers' life and health status, if Google uses it for personalized advertising, it would pose a significant threat to market competition."

Since its founding in 2007, Fitbit has sold over 100 million devices worldwide, with more than 28 million users.

Google has declared that it will not use data obtained through Fitbit for Google advertising, but this seems insufficient to dispel antitrust authorities' concerns.

The European Commission plans to release the results of its investigation into Google's acquisition of Fitbit by December 9.

Meanwhile, Google has previously been fined a total of €8.25 billion (approximately 10.7 trillion KRW) over the past two years in three separate cases for abusing its dominant position in the online search advertising market and engaging in unfair trade practices.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.