Google’s dominance of the multibillion-dollar online advertising space is now under scrutiny by Australia’s competition watchdog, opening a new front in its battle to regulate the tech giant. The Australian Competition Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) released the report (pdf) amid an ongoing effort to implement the News Media Bargaining Code, which will compel Google and Facebook to pay news media companies for displaying their content. The ACCC interim report estimates that Google controls 50 to 100 percent of the supply chains (depending on the service) that underpins the AU$3.4 billion digital advertising (excluding classifieds and search) market in the country. “Advertising technology, or ad tech, has significantly transformed the way that advertising is delivered to consumers online,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said in a statement. “But there is a real lack of competition, choice and transparency in this industry. These issues add to the cost of advertising for businesses, which will …