The European Commission has fined Google €2.9 billion (£2.5 billion) for allegedly violating EU antitrust rules by distorting competition and favouring its own online advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers.
Google offers several adtech services that act as intermediaries between advertisers and publishers, facilitating the display of ads on websites and mobile apps.
These services also enable real-time ad placements that are not tied to search queries, such as banner ads on news websites.
The Commission’s investigation, which began in 2021, found that Google holds a dominant position in the publisher and ad server markets through several of its services, including DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), Google Ads, and Display & Video 360 (DV360).
According to the Commission, Google has abused these dominant positions over the past decade by favouring its own premium advertising platform Google Ad Exchange (AdX) in the ad selection process managed by its DFP ad server.
One example of this is where AdX has been informed in advance of the highest bid submitted by competitors, allowing it to outbid them and win the auction, it said.
US regulators have also claimed that Google favours its own AdX advertising platform when its Google Ads and DV360 advertising purchasing tools bid on advertising platforms.
The EU has ordered the US tech giant to end these self-preferencing practices and implement measures to eliminate inherent conflicts of interest.
Google now has 60 days to inform the Commission of how it intends to proceed.
In setting the amount of the fine, the commission stated that it considered various factors, including the duration and gravity of the infringement, as well as the relevant turnover of AdX in the EEA, to which the infringements relate and which therefore defines the basic amount of the fine.
Commenting on the ruling, Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s executive vice-president for clean, just and competitive transition said: “This behavior is illegal under EU antitrust rules, Google must now come forward with a serious remedy to address its conflicts of interest, and if it fails to do so, we will not hesitate to impose strong remedies.”
She went on to say that digital markets must be grounded in trust and fairness, adding that public institutions must act to prevent dominant players from abusing their power.
Google told the BBC the Commission’s decision was “wrong” and that it would appeal.
“It imposes an unjustified fine and requires changes that will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, global head of regulatory affairs at the company.
The fine comes after Google was been recently ordered by a US federal court to pay $425 million for breaching users’ privacy by collecting data from millions of users who had disabled a tracking feature in their accounts.
The ruling, delivered in San Francisco last Wednesday, follows a class-action lawsuit filed in July 2020 on behalf of approximately 98 million Google users and 174 million devices.
