The European Fee has opened a brand new probe into Google, this time centered on the corporate’s large internet advertising enterprise, Bloomberg reports. European Union regulators have already fined Google billions for violating the Digital Markets Act, and being discovered responsible of anticompetitive conduct in internet advertising may add to that complete.
Whereas the Fee has but to announce a proper investigation, Bloomberg writes that it has began contacting Google’s prospects and rivals for details about its dominance throughout a number of internet advertising markets. Regulators are significantly involved that Google might be “artificially growing the clearing value” of advert auctions “to the detriment of advertisers.” If the corporate is discovered to be violating the EU’s competitors guidelines, Google might be fined 10 % of its international annual gross sales.
Google’s strategy to promoting to minors was reportedly already under investigation by the EU as of December 2024, and in addition to fines, regulators have ordered the corporate to open up Android to competing AI assistants and share search information with rivals. Within the US, there’s additionally precedent for locating Google’s strategy to internet advertising anticompetitive.
A US federal decide discovered that Google is a monopolist in online advertising in April 2025, the conclusion of a authorized battle that began with a Department of Justice lawsuit accusing the corporate of dominating the advert market and utilizing its management to cost extra and maintain a bigger portion of advert gross sales. The DOJ in the end desires Google to promote its advert tech enterprise, however a final decision hasn’t been reached as to how the corporate’s anticompetitive conduct needs to be remedied.
