A historic fine against Google .. the French rooster “clicks” the American giant
Google has received a hefty historical fine in Europe for its online advertising monopoly issue, and the US giant has not objected.
France’s competition authority on Monday imposed a fine of 220 million euros ($267 million) on Google for abusing its dominant position in the market to post online ads in its own interests.
Google did not object to the punishment, which is part of a compromise reached after a complaint was filed by 3 media groups – News Corp, the French newspaper Le Figaro (which later withdrew), and the Belgian group Rossell – over the virtual monopoly of online advertising sales.
The fine is the latest step by European authorities to take a tougher stance on American tech giants.
In its decision, the competition authority wrote that it had “noted” that Google had granted preferential treatment to its technologies, which were presented under the Google Ad Manger brand”.
“The practices in question are particularly serious because they have punished Google’s competitors in the advertising space market, and the publishers of websites and mobile phone applications,” she said, particularly editors and journalists.
In addition to financial sanctions, Google has offered commitments aimed at resolving problems that emerged during the investigation conducted by the French Commission.
“This is a historic decision. It is the first in the world to address the complex algorithmic auction processes through which online ads are displayed,” the authority’s president, Isabel da Silva, said during a press conference.
Google’s Alphabet Corporation generated $55,31 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2021, mostly through online advertising. The company faces lawsuits in several countries on the basis of competition law.
