The EU has informed Google of its “preliminary view” in a thorough statement, stating that it thinks Google has broken antitrust laws governing the advertising sector.
As the market leader in online advertising, Google has frequently caused controversy and raised questions about its practises. Now that the search engine giant may have broken antitrust laws, the European Union (EU) is expressing concerns and advocating for the possible division of its ad business, which could result in Google losing 80% of its advertising revenue.
The EU has informed Google of its “preliminary view” in a thorough statement, stating that it thinks Google has broken antitrust laws governing the advertising sector.
The EU is worried because it has noticed that Google has a bias against promoting its own advertisements within its products, which eventually erodes fair competition in the market.
The EU examines Google’s approach to its AdX ad exchange in order to highlight its concerns and to provide proof of the alleged behaviour. The DFP facilitates the selection of ads through AdX, and advertisers who also use AdX can purchase tools from Google Ads and DV360.
While it might seem simple, the result is that Google gains even more market share at the expense of other ad exchanges, further solidifying its dominant position.
In its statement, the EU emphasises that the problem cannot be solved with a simple “behavioural remedy”. Instead, it contends that Google must sell off and disassemble its ad business to make room for rivalry from outside advertising products that are unrelated to the business itself.
This suggested course of action aims to encourage level playing fields and lessen Google’s disproportionate market influence.
Although this early assessment does not necessarily portend danger for the company, it is important to recognise that Google should in fact treat this issue seriously. It is important to pay attention because this is not the first time the company has been questioned about its dominant position.
The following developments and the potential for Google and the EU to reach a mutually agreeable compromise will be of great significance if this preliminary view ultimately results in a ruling.
The result will reveal how satisfied each party is with the situation and whether it is possible to reach a compromise that takes the EU’s concerns into account.