EU fines Google €2.95 billion for ad breaches
The European Commission has fined Google almost €3 billion for breaches of competition rules linked to its advertising technology (adtech).
Google provides several adtech services that work between advertisers and publishers to display ads on websites or mobile apps.
The commission found that the tech giant had favoured its own online display adtech services to the detriment of competing providers of adtech services, advertisers, and online publishers.
Dominant
The EU body has ordered Google to bring such practices to an end and to implement measures that would end what the commission called Google’s “inherent conflicts of interest” along the adtech supply chain.
A commission investigation found that Google was dominant in the market for publisher ad servers with its service DFP, as well as in the market for ad-buying tools for the open web with its services Google Ads and DV360.
The probe found that between “at least 2014” and now, Google abused its dominant positions by:
- Favouring its own ad exchange AdX in the ad-selection process run by its dominant publisher ad server DFP by, for example, informing AdX in advance of the value of the best bid from competitors that it had to beat to win the auction, and
- Favouring AdX in the way its Google Ads and DV360 placed bids on ad exchanges. “For example, Google Ads was avoiding competing ad exchanges and mainly placing bids on AdX, thus making it the most attractive ad exchange,” the commission said.
Sell-off
The commission has given Google 60 days to respond, but it has already signalled its view that only a Google sell-off of part of its services would address the issue of conflicts of interest.
It said that the fine of €2.95 billion reflected the “duration and gravity” of the infringement, as well as the relevant EEA turnover of AdX.
“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 competition commissioner Teresa Ribera.
The company, however, described the fine as “unjustified” and said that it would appeal the decision.