Google has been fined by the European Commission €2.95 billion ($US3.45 billion) for anti competitive behaviour in the advertising market, a move which could herald retaliatory action by the Trump administration in the US.
The global digital giant, accused of favouring its own display advertising technology services, has been told to change its ways and has 60 days to respond.
“Today’s decision shows that Google abused its dominant position in adtech, harming publishers, advertisers and consumers,” said EU competition head, executive vice-president Teresa Ribera.
“This behaviour is illegal under EU antitrust rules. Google must now come forward with a serious remedy to address its conflicts of interest and if it fails to do so, we will not hesitate to impose strong remedies.”
Google said it would appeal.
“It imposes an unjustified fine and requires changes that will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s global head of regulatory affairs.
And the fine could bring retaliation from the US.
President Donald Trump took to social media to describe the European Commission’s move a “hit” on another “great American company”.
He said the fine was effectively taking money that would otherwise go to American Investments and Jobs.
“This is on top of the many other fines and taxes that have been issued against Google and other American tech companies, in particular. Very unfair, and the American taxpayer will not stand for it,” he said.
“As I have said before, my administration will NOT allow these discriminatory actions to stand. Apple, as an example, was forced to pay $17 billion dollars in a fine that, in my opinion, should not have been charged — They should get their money back!
“We cannot let this happen to brilliant and unprecedented American Ingenuity and, if it does, I will be forced to start a Section 301 proceeding to nullify the unfair penalties being charged to these taxpaying American companies.”
Emarketer analyst Jeremy Goldman said Google can afford the fines.
“What it can’t afford is the mounting drumbeat of cases, from Brussels to Washington, all circling the same idea—that breaking up Big Tech’s ad empire may be the only remedy regulators consider credible,” he said
“The EU’s $3.45 billion adtech fine against Google may sound steep, but for a company that we forecast to generate $223.16 billion in ad revenue next year, it’s less a knockout punch than a regulatory shot across the bow.
“The real significance lies in what it signals: Brussels is willing to escalate from fines toward structural remedies, including potential divestitures of Google’s ad tech stack.
“For Google, the timing couldn’t be worse. In just weeks, it faces a US remedies trial where the DOJ is also pushing to unwind parts of its advertising business.
“Add sliding clickthrough rates post–AI Overviews, publisher pushback over traffic declines and intensifying competition from Amazon, TikTok and retail media, and Google is fighting fires on multiple fronts.
“The EU’s ruling also plays into a larger geopolitical drama. Trump has already threatened retaliation over EU action on Big Tech, making this a flashpoint in simmering US–EU trade tensions.
“In that sense, the fine isn’t just about ad exchanges and self-preferencing—it’s about whether regulators can meaningfully reshape a €120 billion market without triggering transatlantic blowback.”
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