The European Commission on Friday fined Google $3.46 billion (€2.95 billion) for abusing its dominance in the online advertising technology sector, marking one of the largest antitrust penalties ever imposed on a tech company in Europe.
The Commission found that Google illegally distorted competition by favoring its own ad exchange service, AdX, to the detriment of rival ad-tech providers, advertisers, and publishers.
The case marks the fourth time Brussels has sanctioned Google in an antitrust matter since 2017. Google has 60 days to present compliance measures, and the Commission has warned that structural remedies, including possible divestment of part of its ad-tech business, may be required.
The Commission stressed that Google had already been penalized for violations in earlier cases, which contributed to the increased size of the fine.
The Commission’s probe into Google’s ad-tech conduct began in June 2021, with formal proceedings launched to examine whether the company leveraged its control across the advertising supply chain to disadvantage competitors.
The investigation ultimately confirmed that, since at least 2014, Google engaged in practices breaching Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which prohibits abuse of a dominant position, and Article 54 of the European Economic Area Agreement
Announcing the decision, Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, said:
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…when markets fail, public institutions must act to prevent dominant players from abusing their power.
True freedom means a level playing field, where everyone competes on equal terms and citizens have a genuine right to choose.
Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president, said in a statement to Euro News that the fine was “unjustified” and that the changes required “will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money”.
Trump denounced the penalty on Truth Social as “very unfair” and “discriminatory”, warning that his administration “will not allow these…actions to stand.”
He said he was prepared to launch a Section 301 trade investigation, a mechanism under the Trade Act of 1974, that allows retaliatory tariffs when foreign measures burden American commerce.
“We cannot let this happen to brilliant and unprecedented American Ingenuity”, Trump reportedly remarked on the EU’s fine.
The decision comes just as the two sides concluded a trade deal after weeks of negotiations. Under the agreement, Washington committed to lowering tariffs on EU imports to 15 percent, while Brussels agreed to open its market widely to US goods at zero tariffs.
However, implementation remains incomplete, as the US has yet to follow through on its pledge to reduce the 27.5 percent tariff on European cars to 15 percent.
Parallel proceedings against Google are ongoing in the United States, where the Department of Justice has brought similar antitrust claims against Google’s ad-tech business, with a remedies trial set to begin later this month.
(Jurist)
