Google and competition, the EU orders to sell part of the advertising services – Corriere.it

The European Commission orders Google “the mandatory sale” of part of its online advertising services, so as to put an end to the competition problems that have long been detected in the sector, but the US multinational replies: “We do not share the point of view of the European Commission and we will respond accordingly.” These are the words of Dan Taylor, vice president of Google, in response to the letter issued by Brussels.

The response to the allegations

The allegations against the Mountain View company are of abuse of its dominant position in the ad tech supply chain. «Our advertising technology tools help websites and apps – highlights the Google representative – to finance their content and allow businesses of all sizes to effectively reach new customers». The preliminary investigation was launched in June 2021 and came to an end with the notice of the European Antitrust of “violation of EU rules”, taking advantage of a privileged position on the reference market. Furthermore, Brussels criticizes Google for favoring its own “display” services (such as banners and videos) to the detriment of competitors, advertisers and online publishers.

advertising tools

Google has been taking advantage of its technological dominance since at least 2014, according to Brussels, favoring its own advertising tools such as AdX, a leading auction platform, Google Ads and DV360. «It collects user data, sells advertising space and acts as an online advertising intermediary – highlighted the EU Vice-President in charge of Competition, Margrethe Vestager -. Is present at almost all levels of the so-called ad tech supply chain». He stressed strong concern about the hypothesis that “Google may have used its market position to favor its own intermediation services”, causing damage “not only to direct competitors, but also the interests of publishers, also increasing costs for advertisers”. Vestager also reiterated that, if the results of the investigations were to be confirmed, “Google’s practices would be illegal under our competition rules”.

The support of the authorities

If this were to be the case, the European authorities and Google would be faced with an “intrinsic conflict of interest”. At the same time, however, Brussels indicates that ordering “a behavioral remedy” would be “probably ineffective in preventing the risk that the multinational will continue such preferential behaviors or undertake new ones” and the reaction of Google’s top management to the call leads us to believe that it is the future more plausible. For this reason, the opinion of the Antitrust “is that only the obligatory transfer” by Mountain View “of part of its services would solve the competition problems”. Google’s conduct in the ad tech supply chain has “global dimensions”Furthermore, Vestager explained, adding that his services would also be supported by the authorities of France, Denmark, Italy and Portugal and would obtain regular contacts with the US Department of Justice and the competent authority in the United Kingdom. Even if the respective apparatuses work in a “different” way, “we share the same vision on competition” and this case “shows the benefits of very strong transatlantic cooperation”, highlighted the head of EU Competition.