The European Commission has fined Google $3.45 billion (€2.95 billion) for abusing its dominant position in the advertising technology market,marking one of the European Union’s largest tech antitrust cases.
According to a press release from the European Union’s executive body, the American tech giant allegedly distorted the online ad market by prioritizing its own services over those of its competitors. This practice harmed competitors, advertisers, and online publishers alike.
The penalty marks one of the largest antitrust actions ever taken by the European Union against a tech giant, following a detailed investigation into Google’s alleged anti-competitive practices.
According to the reports, it’s the fourth time that the Commission has hit Google with a multibillion-euro fine in an antitrust case. It’s a move that is likely to anger US President Donald Trump, whose administration has lashed out at the European Union over digital regulations it has imposed on Big Tech companies.
The Commission claims that Google’s ownership of various components within the digital ad ecosystem, such as the software used by both advertisers and publishers to purchase online ads, creates ‘inherent conflicts of interest.’
“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,” said European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera in a statement.
Ribera further added that Google’s “illegal practices” resulted in advertisers facing higher marketing costs that they likely passed on to European consumers through higher prices for products and services. At the same time, it also meant lower revenue for publishers, like news sites, which might have resulted in lower quality and higher subscription costs for consumers.
Google now has until early November to tell the Commission how it intends to resolve that conflict of interest and to remedy the alleged abuse.
