EU, UK launch antitrust probes into Facebook’s use of advertising data

Facebook is facing its first in-depth probe by European regulators, the latest in a series of efforts to crack down on big tech market dominance across the continent.

The European Commission said it will investigate whether Facebook misuses a trove of data gathered from advertisers to compete against them in classified ads. It will also check if the company unfairly ties its Marketplace small ad service to the social network. At the same time, the UK said it was opening probes into Facebook’s Mark­etplace and Dating services hours after Germany’s antitrust watchdog announced a case targeting the Google News Showcase product.