From The Verge: The European Commission has made a formal antitrust complaint against Google and its ad business. In a preliminary opinion, the regulator says Google has abused its dominant position in the digital advertising market. It says that forcing Google to sell off parts of its business may be the only remedy, if the company is found guilty of the charges.
This would be a significant move targeting the main source of the search giant’s revenue, and a rare example of the EU recommending divestiture at this stage in an investigation. The Commission has already fined Google over three prior antitrust cases, but has only previously imposed “behavioral” remedies — changes to its business practices.
“Our preliminary concern is that Google may have used its market position to favor its own intermediation services,” the Commission’s executive vice-president in charge of competition policy Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. In its preliminary findings, the Commission says Google has “abused its dominant positions” since at least 2014 to favor its own ad exchange. As the Commission’s press release explains:
The Commission is concerned that Google’s allegedly intentional conducts aimed at giving [Google’s ad exchange] AdX a competitive advantage and may have foreclosed rival ad exchanges. This would have reinforced Google’s AdX central role in the adtech supply chain and Google’s ability to charge a high fee for its service.
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