7th June, 2021
France has fined search engine giant Google $270 million for abusing its market power in the online advertising industry.
In a statement on Monday, France’s competition authority said it had fined Google (GOOGL) “for abusing its dominant position” in the market for online advertising to the detriment of rival platforms and publishers.
The authority accused Google of giving “preferential treatment” to Google Ad Manager, its ad management platform for large publishers.
It did this by favouring its own online ad marketplace, AdX, where publishers sell space to advertisers in real-time, according to the watchdog.
“The decision sanctioning Google is particularly significant because it is the first decision in the world to examine the complex algorithmic bidding processes by which online display advertising operates,” France’s antitrust chief Isabelle de Silva said in the statement.
“This sanction and these commitments will make it possible to re-establish a level playing field for all actors, and the ability of publishers to make the most of their advertising spaces,” said de Silva.