The European Union is very likely to sue Google next year for anti-competitive practices. In the crosshairs of regulators, the American behemoth’s advertising activity accounts for 80% of its total revenue.
Google’s advertising activities are targeted by regulators on five continents…
Prosecutions from 2023
In June 2021, the European Union began an extensive investigation of the Mountain View firm, focusing mainly on its position ” vis-à-vis advertisers, publishers, intermediaries and competitors in the advertising sector.
As the Reuters news agency reports, the European Commission is now ready to go on the attack early next year. However, this date is likely to change: Google could indeed avoid prosecution by granting numerous concessions to regulators, which would put an end to the investigation.
In this case, the company risks a fine of more than 1 billion euros. Over the past 10 years, Google has racked up more than €8 billion in antitrust fines within the European Union.
A crushing monopoly
The EU investigation targets the core of Google’s business model, which is primarily focused on advertising, with its search engine as the main revenue generator in this area. Additionally, the company sells ads on external partner websites and apps, as well as on its YouTube and Gmail platforms and other internal services.
The company’s advertising business is immense and far surpasses that of its largest competitor, Meta. Analysts estimate the firm could generate $233 billion in ad sales this year, up about 11% from 2021.
Only, Google is accused of illegal practices to stifle competition and exercise an unprecedented monopoly in the sector. It is clear that escaping it on the Internet seems mission impossible, although there are alternatives. If the firm denies the accusations against it and ensures that the sector is much more competitive than what the regulators claim, especially with the presence of new players like TikTok, it would seem that this time, it must be held accountable.
As a reminder, Google’s advertising activity is also at the heart of a major investigation in the United States, which could lead to one of the most important antitrust lawsuits in the history of the country.
Source : Reuters
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