DLA Piper advised Criteo in action against Meta Ad Inventory regarding partner status and Partner Access to Meta Ad Inventory

DLA Piper advised the French Commerce Media company Criteo in proceedings before the Competition Authority against Meta (formerly Facebook). This resulted in a favorable decision by the regulator published yesterday that has led to commitments offered by Meta being accepted.

As part of the accepted commitments, Criteo will be reinstated as an authorized partner of the social network and will see its advertising buying capabilities restored on Facebook and Instagram in an optimized way. This announcement follows a complaint initiated by Criteo in September 2019.

The aim of the original complaint was to recreate a level and level playing field for all industry players, including restoring the ability of Criteo and other companies to access Meta's Facebook platform. It also sought to establish clear and transparent guidelines to prevent the platform from unfairly favoring its own advertising services to the detriment of its competitors. This is the first time that a competition authority has accepted commitments from Meta in antitrust proceedings.

The DLA Piper team was led by Paris-based Litigation and Regulatory partner Edouard Sarrazin, counsel Celine Espesson and associate Clara Deveau.