Google's parent company Alphabet has been fined nearly 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) by the European Union over anti-competitive practices in advertising technology. The decision risks further straining the EU's relationship with US President Donald Trump.

Details

The EU has fined Google almost 3 billion euros for abusing its dominant position in advertising technology. The European Commission said on September 5 that Google was giving an advantage to its own services for advertising and ordered the tech giant to stop this anti-competitive practice. "When markets fail, public institutions have a duty to act to prevent dominant players from abusing their power," European Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera said in a statement. - True freedom means a level playing field where everyone competes equally and citizens have a real right to choose."

Google said it intends to appeal the decision, Bloomberg reports. According to Lee-Anne Mulholland, the company's vice president for regulation, the fine is unjustified, and the prescribed measures will hit thousands of European companies, complicating their ability to earn.

Investors did not react negatively to the fine. At trading on September 5, Alphabet shares were growing by 1.5% - up to $236, and since the beginning of the year the market value of the company in plus by more than 23%. For comparison: the main U.S. stock index S&P 500 for the same period added about 10%.

Context

The EU fine coincided with the aggravation of trade relations between the EU and the US: Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Brussels' desire to limit the influence of technology giants from Silicon Valley, Bloomberg noted. Such an arrangement could further exacerbate tensions between the EU and Trump, the agency suggested. Meanwhile, Google continues to face antitrust pressure around the world. In the US this week, the company got a reprieve - a court ruled that its search business did not need to be split up at the request of the Justice Department. But risks remain for the advertising business: next Friday, the DOJ will present its proposals for measures, which will be discussed at a hearing on September 22. Earlier, the agency considered the option of obliging Google to sell the Ad Manager platform.

The European Commission pointed out Google's abuses in the field of advertising technology, which caused online publishers to suffer, back in 2023. At that time, the regulator said that the company was promoting its own ad exchange to the detriment of competitors and strengthening its dominance in the advertising technology chain. Former European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager emphasized that only "mandatory unbundling" of the business could solve the problem. During her time in Brussels, she fined Google more than €8 billion in three cases, although one of the fines was later overturned and another reduced by the EU Court of Justice.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor

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