The internet runs on advertising. And for years, one company has sat at the centre of the digital advertising ecosystem. Google became the default hub for digital media, shaping how publishers are paid, how brands reach consumers, and how value circulates across the open internet.India is now asking whether that arrangement still serves its digital economy, and it’s not alone in raising the question.Global push to rebalance powerAround the world, regulators have been examining the concentration of power in the ad tech pipes that power the modern internet. Last year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) in United States won a landmark antitrust case against Google, finding that the company unlawfully maintained monopolies in key parts of the advertising stack.France has issued multimillion-euro penalties for self-preferencing, and the European Union continues to probe ad-tech practices under the Digital Markets Act. The conclusion is becoming harder to ignore: markets of strategic importance do not function efficiently when a single platform controls auctions, inventory, and data.India has now entered that conversation. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is investigating whether Google unfairly restricted competition in digital advertising and advantaged its own services at the expense of publishers, advertisers, and independent platforms. Unlike earlier disputes about app stores or billing, this one cuts much deeper: it goes to the commercial plumbing that funds digital media and the wider open internet.India’s stakes are economic, not just regulatoryDigital advertising is expected to approach $8.41 billion in 2026 (fiscal), contributing 61% of India’s total advertising spend. The market has grown quickly, but the economics beneath it remain fragile. Cost per miles (CPMs) are low. Transparency is limited. And premium publishers – the ones producing news, sports, entertainment, and business content – struggle to monetise the very content that makes the open internet valuable.The consequences aren’t abstract. If most of the money flows to one intermediary, publishers don’t earn enough to fund quality content. And when investment dries up, consumers get less premium content.This is why the stakes extend beyond regulation. A competitive digital economy needs competitive infrastructure. India’s media houses, broadcasters, streaming platforms, and commerce players all stand to benefit from a market where revenue follows innovation, rather than being captured by a single intermediary.Regulation is retrospective, technology is notThe timing is particularly interesting because policy looks backward while technology moves forward. While courts examine historical conduct, artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how consumers search, how products are discovered, and how attention is allocated.Google argued in the DOJ trial that AI reduces the relevance of the case by shifting power away from display advertising. That framing overlooks a basic truth: AI models do not create knowledge on their own. They learn from the content and signals produced across the open internet. Publishers, broadcasters, and brands supply the very inputs to produce AI’s outputs.This transition overlaps with another shift already underway. Third-party cookies are declining, identity frameworks are being redesigned, and India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act is changing how data can be collected and shared. By the time legal outcomes materialise, the technical foundations of digital advertising may look nothing like they do today. That is both a risk and an opportunity, because the channels of discovery are being rewritten in real time.The next competitive edgeIn an AI-driven discovery environment, familiar brands have an advantage. You cannot bid your way into a generative answer. There are no slots to buy and no clever bidding strategies to deploy. Algorithms surface brands consumers already know and trust, which makes upper-funnel brand building far more strategic than it once was.Premium media environments matter in that shift. They are where familiarity, credibility, and trust are built long before a consumer searches or asks an AI model a question. Research shows that premium media is more effective at improving brand perception and driving purchase intent. In other words, advertising in premium media doesn’t just make brands more credible, it nudges consumers toward action.Data becomes just as critical. AI models perform best when trained on clean, consented, interoperable signals. The next competitive edge will not come from accumulating more data but from strengthening the signals that matter. Brands that unify first-party data, connect it across channels, and feed transparent outcomes back into planning systems will gain predictive advantages. Those locked into opaque walled gardens will struggle to train models, optimise media, or influence discovery.CCI’s probe arrives at precisely the moment when the rules of digital advertising are being rewritten. The question is no longer just whether one company behaved anti-competitively in the past, but what kind of digital economy India wants in the decade ahead.India now has the chance to shape that outcome while the future unfolds in front of us.Tejinder Gill is the managing director of The Trade Desk, India.