Frydenberg’s comments suggest the government is going beyond competition and into data and privacy - which could have major impact on the marketing ecosystem. Omnicom’s Kristiaan Kroon warned last week that intervention in that area could have profound consequences, affecting “not only how our clients might use a business like Google or Facebook, but also how they treat their own data and what we can – and cannot – buy into,” said Kroon. “So enormous implications.”

Australian media companies may find themselves caught up in any new data privacy regulation, but will welcome moves to curb the duopoly’s market power. News Corp has called for government to go beyond regulatory “tweaks” and force separation of Google’s ad stack and search businesses.

“This absolutely needs to go to the heart of [the platforms] and actually how they behave in marketplaces,” News Corp head of policy and government affairs, GK Schubert, told Mi3. “Without it, there will be no innovation. There will be no competition.”

More views from News, Nine and Omnicom on the ACCC’s inquiry here.