Report from Bloomberg
In Brief – Google is the target of heightened scrutiny by the European Commission antitrust officials over concerns that the digital giant may be illegally rigging the cost of advertising on its search engine. A February 9 letter and request for information sent by the commission to AdTech market participants asks about Google’s dominance across several online advertising markets and evidence backing the regulator’s suspicion that Google is “artificially increasing the clearing price” of search ad auctions “to the detriment of advertisers”. The EU Commission declined to comment on the early-stage market investigation while Google said, “Google Search ads help small businesses compete with the biggest brands, driving economic growth and keeping the web free for everyone.”
Macron Calls for EU Commission to Strictly Apply DSA to Election Content
Report from EuroNews In Brief – French President Emmanuel Macron is calling on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to fully enforce the Digital Services Act (DSA) to counter foreign election interference ahead of major votes in 11 EU countries in 2026...