Acquisition of Teads by Outbrain: Structuring merger decisions for competitive analysis of the online advertising sector in France and in the UK

The online advertising market – made up of publishers, advertisers, platforms (SSPs/DSPs) and internet users – is difficult to analyse for competition authorities due to its technological complexity, automation (programmatic advertising) and heavy reliance on data. The acquisition of Teadsand — formerly a subsidiary of the French group Altice — by the American firm Outbrain, which has taken exclusive control,  has prompted both the French Competition Authority and the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to outline their views on this complex sector.

French authority gives green light, while UK regulator scrutinises every detail.

The French Competition Authority has, for the first time, ruled on a merger in the online advertising sector. It relied heavily on an industry report from 2018 to define the relevant markets: search-related versus non-search-related advertising, social media versus non-social media and video versus non-video formats. It authorised the transaction due to the parties’ low market shares (<5%) and the presence of numerous competitors. Although it recognised the complementarity of the services, it did not consider this to be problematic from a competition perspective.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) does not rely on market share figures and instead analyses several potential risks: horizontal effects (resulting from consolidation in the provision of video advertising platforms) and conglomerate effects (the coupling of Teads and Outbrain services to exclude rivals). Ultimately, it came to the same conclusion, stating that Teads and Outbrain are not close competitors and that there would be sufficient competitive pressure even after the merger.

Competition vs sovereignty: when merger control law hits its limits?

“Merger control is probably not the most appropriate instrument to deal with issues that fall outside the scope of competition law, in particular those relating to sovereignty” — Étienne Chantrel, Partner at Eight Advisory.

The Teads/Outbrain case has reignited the debate on the acquisition of innovative European companies by foreign firms, which are often beyond the reach of traditional merger control thresholds. Although this particular transaction does not raise competition concerns, it does raise questions about technological sovereignty. Neither the French Competition Authority nor the UK CMA have addressed this issue, as their mandate is strictly limited to analysing competition. This illustrates the limitations of merger control law in addressing broader challenges such as industrial and technological sovereignty.

Read the full version of this article in issue #149 of the Revue Lamy de la concurrence , May 2025 (available in French) or download an extract (in French).

Editorial team: Etienne Chantrel, Laëtitia Martini