Google has announced changes to its advertising services to avert the risk of a break-up, two months after Brussels hit the US giant with a huge fine.
The European Commission slapped a €2.95-billion anti-trust fine on Google in September for favouring its own services, giving the company 60 days to resolve the issues raised.
The penalty drew an angry rebuke from US President Donald Trump, who threatened fresh tariffs on the European Union if it was confirmed. Google has said it will appeal the fine.
“Our proposal fully addresses the decision without a disruptive break-up that would harm the thousands of European publishers and advertisers who use Google tools to grow their business,” a Google spokesperson said today.
Despite agreeing to the so-called “ad-tech” changes, Google said it still disagreed with the EU decision.
Brussels will now assess the commitments – which come as the bloc treads a line between its determination to enforce its tech rules and its wariness of further provoking Trump.
Yesterday, the EC launched a new probe into the US company under its digital competition rules over suspicions it is unfairly pushing down certain news outlets in search rankings.
Google also faces scrutiny over its advertising services in the US.
There, a federal judge earlier this year decided against Google over its ad-tech practices. Google is also seeking to avoid a forced sale in that case in Virginia, and closing arguments are expected to take place on November 17.
The judge is set to make a decision in the following weeks or months.
When it announced the September fine, the EC said Google had unfairly used its dominant position in online advertising to favour its own services.
The online giant not only sells advertising on its own websites and apps but also acts as an intermediary for firms wanting to place ads elsewhere to appear on mobile and computer screens — which Brussels says made it harder for rivals to compete.
Google said today its plans include immediate product changes such as giving publishers the option to set varying minimum prices for different bidders when using Google Ad Manager.
To address the EU’s accusations of conflict of interest, Google said it would increase the interoperability of its tools for publishers and advertisers.
The EC confirmed Google had sent its plan.
“We will now analyse Google’s proposed measures to assess whether they effectively bring the self-preferencing practices to an end and address the situation of inherent conflicts of interest,” an EC spokesperson said today.
Brussels has slapped multiple fines on Google in recent years.
It fined the giant €4.1 billion in 2018 for abusing the market dominance of its Android operating system and in 2017 hit it with a €2.4 billion fine for anti-competitive practices in the price comparison market.
The EU also accused Google in March of treating its own services more favourably compared to rivals as part of a digital competition probe launched last year.
