The European Union is delaying fining Google for abusing its dominance in advertising technology due to concerns that it will aggravate US President Donald Trump. The two nations finalised a trade deal in July that saw the majority of exports subject to a 15% tariff.
The digital advertising technology sector, known as the “ad tech stack,” includes various intermediaries facilitating the sale of online ads. Google owns four of these: Google Ads, DV360, AdX, and DoubleClick for Publishers.
In June 2021, the European Commission launched an investigation into Google’s conduct in the sector, resulting in a preliminary view that Google had breached its antitrust rules by self-preferencing AdX using its other three services.
The search giant was told that a “mandatory divestment” of part of its ad tech business would be the only way to address competition concerns. After finding sufficient evidence of infringement, European regulators intended to formally conclude the investigation on September 1, issuing Google with a fine of up to 10% of its global annual turnover and ordering it to end the alleged abusive practices, anonymous sources told Bloomberg.
However, as the date approached, senior figures grew concerned that the measures would prompt Trump to repeal the recent trade deal and inflict harsher export tariffs, the sources said. Since early April, the president has been threatening and imposing strict export tariffs on nations he believes have exploited US markets. Back in July, he threatened to impose a 30% tariff on the EU if it could not agree to a trade deal.
The antitrust fine may now be delayed for days or even weeks, Bloomberg’s sources said. The draft of the decision, which could include structural and behavioural mitigations, may also change as European regulators continue to discuss it with their US counterparts.
The sources added that the fine was expected to be the smallest Google has faced in an EU antitrust case. It has been fined three times since 2017, totalling over €8 billion, for favouring its own Shopping service in search results, pre-installing Google Search on Android devices, and imposing restrictive ad contracts on third-party websites.
A European Commission spokesperson said the investigation is ongoing and it couldn’t comment further, according to Bloomberg, while Google declined to comment.
In January, Club de Madrid, a network of former European heads of state, voiced its support of the Commission “end(ing) Google’s monopoly over digital advertising technologies” through forced divestiture. “Google’s unchecked dominance, stemming from its 2007 acquisition of DoubleClick, has stifled competition and consolidated its control over every segment of the ad tech market,” the 18 leaders wrote in an open letter.
Google Ads and DV360 are both used by advertisers to bid for ad spaces on websites and apps. DoubleClick for Publishers is a platform for website and app managers to list their available ad space. AdX connects the two by matching the highest-bidding advertiser with the website or app manager in a real-time auction.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is reportedly weighing sanctions against certain EU and member state officials involved in enforcing the bloc’s Digital Services Act. It views the legislation, which regulates how online platforms handle privacy, protect their users, and operate transparently, as an attack on US tech companies. The Federal Trade Commission agrees, and has urged the tech giants to resist its “censoring” demands.
Google’s ad tech practices are being scrutinised around the world
It’s not just the EU that has raised concerns about Google’s ad tech practices. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority provisionally ruled that Google’s dominance in the ad tech market is detrimental to competitors last year, while a collective of UK-based online publishers is suing the company for £13.6 billion for abusing its market dominance.
Across the pond, a district court has found that Google holds an illegal monopoly in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets. In May, the US Department of Justice proposed a breakup of Google’s ad tech operations, specifically divesting AdX and DoubleClick for Publishers.
A remedies trial is scheduled for later this month to determine whether Google must comply with the proposed structural breakup or adopt alternative behavioural changes.
The May decision marked the second time in a year that a US federal judge concluded Google had violated antitrust law, following an August 2024 ruling that the company dominated general search services and text ads.
Google has not taken these accusations lying down. In September 2024, it successfully overturned a €1.5 billion antitrust fine it received from the European Commission in 2019 for preventing third parties from using its AdSense platform from displaying competitor ads next to Google search results.
Google is reportedly revising its Play Store policies to comply with the Digital Markets Act.