Regulators told the tech giant to stop ‘self-preferencing’ in ad services but chose not to push for a sale
European Union regulators on Friday imposed a €2.95 billion ($3.5 billion) fine on Google for breaking competition laws by giving unfair preference to its own digital advertising services. This marks the company’s fourth major antitrust penalty in Europe and signals a softer stance compared with earlier threats to split up the tech giant.
The European Commission, which acts as the EU’s executive arm and leading competition authority, also instructed Google to stop its “self-preferencing” practices and to address “conflicts of interest” within the advertising technology supply chain.
According to the commission’s findings, Google misused its dominant role in the online ad ecosystem.
Google rejected the ruling, calling it “wrong,” and confirmed plans to appeal.
“The fine is unjustified and the mandated changes will harm thousands of European businesses by limiting their ability to earn revenue,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s global head of regulatory affairs.
This penalty comes more than two years after the commission first filed antitrust charges against Google. At that time, regulators argued that breaking up parts of Google’s ad operations was the only way to resolve competition concerns. However, the latest decision pulls back from that earlier stance and arrives amid ongoing disputes between Brussels and Washington over trade, tariffs, and tech regulation.
EU leaders had previously pushed for a forced divestiture, saying earlier fines and behavioral remedies were ineffective since Google continued to find new ways to sidestep restrictions.
The latest ruling follows a formal inquiry launched in June 2021, which examined whether Google gave its own display advertising technology services an advantage over rivals, including publishers, advertisers, and competing ad tech providers. Display ads typically include banners and text shown on websites, tailored to users’ browsing habits.
