EU finds Google guilty of monopolistic behavior in online advertising market

Google icon on tablet screen

This is the content of the preliminary conclusion from the EC - the executive body of the European Union (EU) - after 2 years of conducting an antitrust investigation. The EC has asked Google to respond to the preliminary conclusion before the agency makes an official conclusion. If this conclusion is upheld, the EC can impose a maximum fine of 10% of Google's global revenue.

The EU competition authority’s announcement stated that Google’s prioritization of its online advertising services harmed competitors in the ad technology space, advertising agencies and online publishers. Accordingly, since 2014, Google has abused its dominance in the online space by simultaneously owning many online advertising-related services, from the DFP ad server to the Google Ads and DV360 ad buying tools, thereby giving special priority to its AdX advertising trading network.

The EU competition authority has argued that regulating behavior alone will not be enough to stop anti-competitive practices. Google had sought to settle the case three months after the EU regulator opened its investigation. However, regulators have increasingly found the pace of improvement in anti-competitive behavior to be slow and lacking in significant concessions. The EC's view now is that Google should divest from certain advertising services.

With a 28% share of global advertising revenue, Google is the world's most dominant online advertising platform, according to research firm Insider Intelligence. Google's 2022 advertising revenue, which includes revenue from search, Gmail, Google Play, Google Maps, YouTube ads, Google Ad Manager, AdMob and AdSense, is expected to reach $224.5 billion, accounting for 70% of the company's total revenue.

According to VNA