SYDNEY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Google agreed on Monday to pay a A$55 million ($35.8 million) fine in Australia after the consumer watchdog found it had hurt competition by paying the country's two largest telcos to pre-install its search application on Android phones, excluding rival search engines. The fine extends a bumpy period for the Alphabet-owned internet giant in Australia,...

* Advertising industry faces antitrust scrutiny in India * Watchdog reviews ad executives' WhatsApp chats detailing coordination * Meeting records show ad executives celebrated pricing pact * Regulator determined on initial basis that conduct breached competition law By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI, June 19 (Reuters) - Omnicom Media's India chief was frustrated. It was October 5, 2023 and a rival...

By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Omnicom Media's India chief was frustrated. It was October 5, 2023 and a rival was trying to poach the U.S. firm's client by offering lower prices, just weeks after global advertising agencies and broadcasters struck secret pacts on ad rates in the South Asian country. The attempt to woo the client violated the agencies'...

BEIJING (Reuters) -China's biggest mid-year shopping festival, 618, ended on Wednesday evening without much fanfare after more than a month of promotional events aimed at enticing consumers to part with more of their hard-earned money. Originally a single-day celebration marking the founding of e-commerce giant JD.com ( JD ) on June 18, the festival has expanded to include all e-commerce...