The European Union has imposed a €2.95 billion EU fine on Alphabet, Google’s parent company, for abusing its dominant position in the ad tech market. The core accusation is that Google leveraged its immense influence to illegally favor its own advertising services, thereby harming competitors.
Google’s Ad Tech Market Abuse and EU Fine
Following an investigation, the European Commission concluded that Google’s actions led to a “distortion of the online ad tech market.” The Commission stated that Google deliberately gave an advantage to its own services, including advertisers and online publishers, at the expense of its rivals.
Google’s Ad Tech Conflict of Interest
To understand the problem, one must comprehend how online ad tech operates. Google occupies key positions in this system:
- ☛ DFP (DoubleClick for Publishers) is an ad server for websites (publishers), used to manage which ads are displayed.
- ☛ AdX is Google’s ad exchange, where advertising is bought and sold.
- ☛ Google Ads and DV360 are tools advertisers use to purchase ads.
The European Commission contends that by controlling all these stages, Google created a “conflict of interest” and acted unfairly:
- ☛ Favored its own AdX exchange: Google’s DFP server allegedly secretly informed AdX what bid to make to win auctions, giving it an unfair advantage over competing exchanges.
- ☛ Disregarded competitors: Google’s advertising services (Google Ads and DV360) predominantly placed bids on AdX, making it the most attractive exchange and strengthening Google’s monopoly.
The Commission concluded that these actions were deliberate, allowing Google to eliminate competition and inflate prices for its services.
Google, Donald Trump, and the EU Fine Respond
- Lee-Ann Mulholland, Google’s Vice President of Global Regulation, called the Commission’s decision “flawed” and announced the company would appeal. She stated that the Commission’s demands would lead to “changes that will harm thousands of European companies, making it harder for them to make money.”
- Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly defended American IT companies, sharply reacted to the Google EU fine. On Truth Social, Trump called it “very unfair” and vowed to initiate a Section 301 investigation “to nullify unfair fines imposed on American companies that pay taxes.”
Understanding “Section 301”
“Section 301” is a part of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974. It grants the U.S. President the authority to take action against countries that engage in trade practices deemed “unfair” or “discriminatory” towards American commerce.
Donald Trump actively used this tool during his first presidency to impose tariffs against China.
Is the Google EU Fine Sufficient?
NEWSROOM IN notes that the investigation and subsequent fine stemmed from a complaint filed by the European Publishers Council, which represents the interests of newspapers, magazines, and other publishing houses. They accused Google of abusing its dominant position in the online advertising market and harming their businesses.
The European Publishers Council and various experts argue that the EU fine, regardless of its size, will not solve the problem. They advocate for more radical measures: forcing Google to sell off parts of its business. Their reasoning is based on the assertion that the ad tech system is fundamentally flawed: as long as Google controls every link in the ad tech supply chain, it will always grant an unfair advantage to its own products.
A History of Non-Compliance
This is already the fourth multi-billion-euro fine imposed on Google by the Commission. EU officials argue that previous fines have not led to real changes in the company’s behavior, allowing it to continue dominating in other forms. For example, in 2017, Google was fined €2.4 billion for favoring its own services in search results, and in 2018, it received a €4.3 billion fine for illegally bundling its applications with Android phones.
The company’s revenue for the first two quarters of 2025 totaled $186.662 billion. The current €2.95 billion fine represents approximately 1.66% of Google’s total revenue for the first half of 2025.
While this is a substantial sum in absolute terms, it constitutes a relatively small fraction of the company’s colossal earnings. This is precisely why many experts believe the fine is insufficient to rectify the situation.
