The European Commission fined Google 2.95 billion euros ($3.45 billion) for its dominance and anti-competitive ad-tech business. The EU Commission accused Google of unfairly favoring its own display advertising technology services and told Google to end these practices.
What’s happening. The Commission also ordered Google to “bring these self-preferencing practices to an end” and “implement measures to cease its inherent conflicts of interest along the adtech supply chain.” The company has 60 days to respond.
- “Today’s decision shows that Google abused its dominant position in adtech harming publishers, advertisers, and consumers. This behaviour is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said.
The backstory. This comes after a 2018 decision where the EU Commission charged Google with violating the European Union’s antitrust laws and suggested that “mandatory divestment” is the only way the search engine can resolve the issue.
Google’s response. “It imposes an unjustified fine and requires changes that will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money,” Lee-Anne Mulholland, the company’s global head of regulatory affairs, said in a statement.
- Google said the decision was “wrong” and that it would appeal. Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s global head of regulatory affairs, called the fine “unjustified” and said “it requires changes that will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money”.
Why we care. Will this lead to Google breaking up parts of its ad-tech business or other business units. Will this result in any changes for advertisers? It is unknown. What we saw with the Google US monopoly ruling was very little, if any, action taken against Google as a result of that ruling.
More coverage. See Techmeme.
Trump. After this news came out, President Donald Trump threatened to launch a trade investigation to “nullify” what he said were discriminatory penalties levied by Europe against U.S. tech firms such as Google.
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