Google Hit with €2.95bn EU Fine for Ad Tech Abuse

Google has been fined €2.95bn (£2.5bn) by the European Commission for allegedly abusing its dominance in the ad tech sector — the system that decides which online ads are shown and where. According to the Commission, the tech giant breached competition laws by giving preferential treatment to its own advertising products, disadvantaging rival services.

Regulators said Google had intentionally boosted its own advertising exchange, AdX, over competitors in the real-time bidding market, resulting in higher costs and reduced revenues for publishers. These costs, they added, may ultimately have been passed on to consumers.

Google, however, has rejected the ruling and confirmed it would appeal. The company told the BBC the Commission’s decision was “wrong.”

“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 Google. “There’s nothing anti-competitive in providing services for ad buyers and sellers, and there are more alternatives to our services than ever before.”

The fine has also drawn political reaction from the United States. President Donald Trump criticised the decision as “very unfair,” adding in a social media post that his administration would launch an investigation into European practices that could lead to tariffs.

“As I have said before, my Administration will NOT allow these discriminatory actions to stand,” he wrote. “The European Union must stop this practice against American Companies, IMMEDIATELY!”

The Commission dismissed speculation earlier this week that the timing of the fine had been delayed due to tensions over US-EU trade relations. This marks the third time Google has been found in breach of EU competition law. In 2018, it was fined €4.34bn (£3.9bn) for using its Android operating system to consolidate market dominance.

Teresa Ribera, executive vice president of the Commission, said previous violations were taken into account when calculating the latest penalty. “In line with our usual practice, we increased Google’s fine since this is the third time Google breaks the rules of the game,” she said.

Ribera also warned Google had 60 days to outline how it would comply. “At this stage, it appears the only way for Google to end its conflict of interest effectively is with a structural remedy, such as selling some part of its ad tech business,” she said.

Source: BBC