La European Commission informed Google of his preliminary view that American society would violated EU antitrust rules distorting competition in the advertising technology sector, the so-called adtech. Specifically, the Commission disputes that Google has favored its own online advertising technology services to the detriment of competing providers of advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers.
Today’s communication on the preliminary opinion does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation, which is still ongoing. According to the Commission, Google has been abusing its dominant positions since at least 2014. The alleged unlawful practices consist in favoring its own ad exchange system, AdX, in the ad selection auction managed by the “DoubleClick For Publishers” system or Dfp, also managed by Google.
For example, the AdX would be notified in advance of the value of the competitors’ best bid which he must beat to win the auction. “Our concern”, explained the vice president of the European Commission, Margrethe Vestager, “is that Google may have used its market position to favor its own intermediary services. This could not only harm Google’s competitors, but also the interests of publishers, while also increasing the costs of advertisers”, pointed out the European Commissioner responsible for Competition.
“If confirmed, Google’s practices would be illegal under our competition rules,” Vestager added. Indeed, Article 102 of the EU treaty prohibits the abuse of a dominant position. On 22 June 2021, the Commission launched a formal proceeding into possible anti-competitive behavior by Google in the online advertising technology sector.
If the Commission concludes that there is sufficient evidence for an infringement of the rules, it may adopt a decision prohibiting the behavior and impose a fine of up to 10% of the company’s annual worldwide turnover.
The EU: Google sells part of its online advertising services
“We welcome the significant progress made by the European Commission in its investigation into Google’s abusive practices in its ad technology business.” This was stated by Angela Mills Wade, executive director of the European Publishers Council (Epc), an organization representing the main European publishers, reacting to the preliminary opinion of the European Commission regarding Google’s alleged violations of the antitrust legislation on online advertising . “The EPC had filed a complaint in February 2022 exposing Google’s control over both the buy and sell sides of its ad tech tools and how it exploited its position to the disadvantage of publishers. We don’t see the Time to work with the Commission as the case continues.”
“The Commission’s preliminary view is that only the mandatory assignment by Google of part of its services would solve its competition problems”, indicated the Commission. The American company, the EU executive pointed out, “is active on both sides of the market with its ad server for publishers and with its ad purchasing tools and holds a dominant position on both sides. Also, it operates the largest ad exchange. This leads to a situation of intrinsic conflict of interest for Google”, reads the preliminary findings which do not prejudge the outcome of the ongoing investigation.
Google: reject EU position, we will respond accordingly
Google rejects the conclusions of the Commission’s investigations and announces that it will respond. “Our ad technology tools help websites and apps fund their content and enable businesses of all sizes to effectively reach new customers. We are committed to creating value for our partners in a highly competitive industry like this – whether it’s advertisers or publishers who host advertising on their sites and apps. The survey focuses on a narrow aspect of our advertising business, and this is nothing new. We do not share the European Commission’s view and we will respond accordingly,” said Dan Taylor, vice president of Global Ads, Google, in a statement.
Publishers: good progress of the Commission against abuses
“We welcome the significant progress made by the European Commission in its investigation into Google’s abusive practices in the ad tech business,” said Angela Mills Wade, executive director of the European Publishers Council (EPC), the organization representing major publishers Europeans, reacting to the preliminary opinion of the European Commission on the alleged violations by Google of the antitrust rules on online advertising.
“The EPC had filed a complaint in February 2022 exposing Google’s control over both the buy and sell sides of its ad tech tools and how it exploited its position to the disadvantage of publishers. We don’t see the Time to work with the Commission as the case continues.”