Brussels accuses Google of favoring its own advertising technology services

The European Comission has formally accused the technology multinational this Wednesday Google of abusing its dominant position by favoring its advertising technology services or ‘adtech‘, which are tools and programs used by advertisers to reach broader audiences and measure the impact of their campaigns.

Brussels also believes that it is “unlikely” that a change in Google’s behavior in this sector can resolve the infringement of Community competition rules, since the company is active in all segments of the sector, and points out as only solution is the sale of part of your business.

Thus, the Commission, “may demand that you get rid of part of your services“, the Vice President of the Community Executive in charge of Competition, Margrethe Vestager, indicated at a press conference in Brussels, after warning that commitments from the company to change its practices will not be enough.

Google plays an intermediary role between publishers and advertisers who use tools or programs’adtech‘ to place your online campaigns in real time thanks to services for the purchase of spaces (‘Google Ads’ and ‘DV 360’), an advertising server for publishers (‘DoubleClick for publishers’) and the ‘AdX’ advertising platform.

The Community Executive announced an investigation into this matter in June 2021, and today it has sent a statement of objections to the American company in which it accuses it of “promote online viewing of your own services of advertising technology to the detriment of rival providers.

Its about fourth Brussels case against Google after accusations of a dominant position through the Android system, its Google Shopping price comparison service and its Adsense for Search platform, which led to fines that together amount to around 8 billion euros.