Report from the CNBC
In Brief – The European Commission has hit Google with a €2.95 billion ($3.45 billion) antitrust fine for a range of anti-competitive practices in its vast AdTech business, including unfairly favoring its own display advertising technology services to the detriment of rival providers, advertisers and online publishers. Along with the fine, the Commission ordered Google to end self-preferencing practices and implement measures to cease its inherent conflicts of interest along the AdTech supply chain. In the decision announcement, EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said, “Google abused its dominant position in adtech harming publishers, advertisers, and consumers,” adding that “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.” The release of the fine followed reports that the Commission had delayed announcing the decision while EU trade negotiators worked to reach a tariff agreement with the US that could result in further reductions in new tariffs being imposed on European manufactured products, including cars. Following the announcement of the new Google fines, President Trump released a scathing post on Truth Social calling it “very unfair” and threatening to have his administration “start a Section 301 proceeding to nullify the unfair penalties being charged to these Taxpaying American Companies.”
Context – Between 2017 and 2019, the European Commission found Google guilty of anticompetitive conduct in three major cases and fined Google over $9 billion. Those investigations, and years of litigation, helped propel forward the Digital Markets Act that now regulates Google and six other “gatekeepers”. The EU’s AdTech case paralleled similar complaints from US State AGs led by Texas and the US Department of Justice (DoJ). The DoJ’s lawsuit moved quickly to trial and in April District Judge Leonie Brinkema found that Google violated federal monopoly law in the operation of their AdTech businesses that serve display advertising to major publisher websites. The remedies portion of that trial begins in late September.