Brussels (Rajeev Sharma): The European Union on Friday imposed a €2.95 billion ($3.5 billion) fine on Google for breaching competition rules by unfairly promoting its own digital advertising services. This marks the fourth antitrust penalty levied against the tech giant by EU regulators and reflects a retreat from earlier threats to break up the company.
The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm and chief antitrust watchdog, also ordered Google to end its “self-preferencing practices” and address “conflicts of interest” across the advertising technology supply chain.
Google swiftly rejected the ruling, announcing plans to appeal. “The decision is wrong. It imposes an unjustified fine and demands changes that will harm thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to earn revenue,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s global head of regulatory affairs.
The decision comes more than two years after the Commission first brought antitrust charges against the company, concluding a lengthy investigation into its dominance in online advertising.
