Source: Cailian
Financial Associated Press, August 30 (Editor Xia Junxiong) According to sources, an antitrust action by the European Union against US technology giant Google will usher in results in the next few weeks, and Google is expected to be fined a small amount.
Boosted by the news, Google closed up 0.6% on Friday, setting a record high during the session.
Google has been fined heavily by the European Union many times. If the latest antitrust action can end in a small fine, it will undoubtedly be a good thing for the company.
The European Commission’s decision stems from an investigation four years ago, which began with a complaint from the European Publishers’ Commission. The European Commission officially filed a complaint against Google in 2023, saying it has paranoid its platform in advertising services and excluded its competitors.
The small fine imposed on Google marks a shift in the strategy of EU antitrust authorities, with Teresa Rivera, the current head of EU antitrust affairs, focusing more on pushing companies to end anti-competitive behavior rather than the huge fines admired by her predecessor Margrethe Vestager.
It is reported that the amount of fines faced by Google this time will be significantly smaller than the previous penalties.
Vestager was in charge of antitrust affairs in the European Union from 2014 to 2024. During this period, Google has been fined several times. Specifically, it was fined 2.42 billion euros in 2017 for the comparison shopping service; 4.30 billion euros in 2018 for the Android system being accused of excluding competitors; and 1.49 billion euros in 2019 for the monopolistic behavior of the AdSense platform.
In 2024, Google's advertising revenue will reach US $264.6 billion, accounting for 75.6% of the company's total revenue, consolidating its position as the world's largest digital advertising platform. The company's advertising revenue covers many of its services, including Search, Gmail, Google Play, Maps, YouTube, Google Ad Manager, AdMob and AdSense.
According to people familiar with the matter, Rivera will not ask Google to sell part of its ad technology business, unlike what Vestager had asked Google to divest its DoubleClick for Publishers tool and AdX ad trading platform.
The source also confirmed that, given that a U.S. judge had arranged for remedies against Google’s dominant advertising tools in September, the EU may not have to issue a “split order at all.”