EU Fines Google $3.5 Billion for Antitrust Violations in Ad Tech

The European Commission has imposed a €2.95 billion ($3.5 billion) fine on Google for breaching EU antitrust rules by favoring its own digital advertising services. The Commission determined that Google abused its dominant position by giving preferential treatment to its ad exchange, AdX, within its publisher ad server and ad-buying tools, thereby harming competition and potentially increasing costs for advertisers and consumers.

The Commission has ordered Google to cease these self-preferencing practices and to implement measures to eliminate conflicts of interest within the ad tech supply chain. Google has 60 days to present a plan to comply with these directives.

"Google must now come forward with a serious remedy to address its conflicts of interest, and if it fails to do so, we will not hesitate to impose strong remedies," said Teresa Ribera, the Commission's executive vice president for clean, just, and competitive transition.

In response, Google announced plans to appeal the decision. Lee-Anne Mulholland, the company's global head of regulatory affairs, stated, "The European Commission's decision about our ad tech services is wrong and we will appeal. It imposes an unjustified fine and requires changes that will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money."

The ruling has also drawn criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump, who described the fine as "unfair" and threatened retaliatory tariffs on European goods.

This penalty is the second-largest antitrust fine ever imposed by the EU, following a $5 billion fine against Google in 2018.