Google struck with a fine of 3.5 billion dollars of the European Union in an ad-tech antitrust case

London – Friday, the regulators of the European Union struck Google with a fine of 2.95 billion euros ($ 3.5 billion) for breaking the rules of competition of the block by promoting its own digital advertising services, marking the fourth antitrust penalty for the company.

The European Commission, the executive branch of the 27-country block and the best antitrust executor, has also ordered the American technology giant to end its “self-programs” and take measures to stop “conflicts of interest” along the advertising technology supply chain.

EU regulators had previously threatened a rupture of the company, but have retained this threat at the moment.

Google said the decision was “wrong” and that it would appeal.

“This imposes an unjustified fine and requires changes that will injure thousands of European companies by making them more difficult for them to earn money,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, the head of the company’s regulatory affairs.

The decision has been expected for a long time, coming more than two years after the European Commission announced antitrust accusations against Google.

The Commission said at the time that the only way to satisfy antitrust concerns concerning Lucrative digital advertising activities of Google was to sell parts of its business. However, this decision has only made a brief mention of the possible disinvestment and comes in the midst of renewed tensions between Brussels and the Trump administration on trade, prices and technological regulations.

The senior EU officials had declared earlier than the Commission sought a forced sale because the previous cases which ended with fines and requirements so that Google stops anti -competitive practices did not work, allowing the company to continue its behavior in a different form.

This is the second time in a week that Google has avoided a break.

Google is also under fire on a separate front in the United States, where prosecutors want the company to sell its Chrome browser after a judge discovered that the company had an illegal monopoly in online research.

On Tuesday, an American federal judge noted that Google had an illegal monopoly in online research and ordered an upheaval of its search engine but postponed the government’s attempt to break the company by forcing a sale of its Chrome browser.

But the EU has indicated that the rupture option is not completely out of the table. Google has 60 days to indicate to the Commission its proposals to end its conflicts of interest, and if the regulators are not satisfied, they will offer an “appropriate remedy”.

“The Commission has already reported its preliminary opinion according to which only Google’s disinvestment of part of its services addresses the situation of inherent conflicts of interest, but it first wishes to hear and assess Google’s proposal,” he said in a press release.

The commission’s penalty follows an official survey which it opened in June 2021, seeking whether Google violated the rules of the block competition by promoting its own online display advertising technology services to the detriment of rival publishers, advertisers and advertising technology services.

His investigation revealed that Google “abused” its dominant positions in the ad-technology ecosystem, the Commission said.

Online display ads are banners and texts that appear on websites and are personalized according to the navigation history of an Internet user.

Mulholland said: “There is nothing anti -competitive to provide services to buyers and ad sendants, and there are more alternatives to our services than ever.”

Google faces pressure on other fronts.

In a separate American case, the Ministry of Justice asked a federal judge in May to force the company to sell its ADX Business and DFP AD platform – tools that are also at the heart of the European affair. They connect advertisers with publishers who have an advertising space to sell on their sites. The case should go to the penalty phase, known as the appeal audience in late September.

Authorities in Canada and Great Britain are also targeting the company on its digital advertising activity.