A coalition of thirty-two international media outlets, including the German group Axel Springer, filed a joint complaint in the Netherlands on Wednesday February 28 against Alphabet, the parent company of Google. Made up of titles from seventeen countries, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland, the coalition accuses the American company of abusing of its dominant position in the online advertising market. She is seeking $2.3 billion (2.1 billion euros) in damages.
“The media companies involved have incurred losses due to a less competitive market, which is a direct result of Google’s bad behavior”declare in a press release their lawyers, from the Geradin Partners and Stek firms. “If Google had not abused its dominant position, media companies would have earned significantly more revenue from advertising and would have paid less for its advertising servicesthey add. And, above all, these funds could have been reinvested to strengthen the European media landscape. »
A Google spokesperson said his company opposed the complaint, which he described as “speculative and opportunistic”. “Google works constructively with publishers across Europe. [Nos outils publicitaires] adapt and evolve in partnership with these same publishers »he added, quoted by the Reuters agency.
In June 2021, Google was already fined 220 million euros in France by the Competition Authority, for a similar reason. Also since June 2021, the Mountain View group has also been the subject of an investigation by the European Commission for abuse of a dominant position. If, at the end of the procedure, Brussels concludes that there is sufficient evidence of the existence of an infringement, it can impose a fine of up to 10% of annual global turnover. Google has already paid 8 billion euros in fines in the European Union (EU) for various anti-competitive practices.
Known for its search engine, the technology giant also operates the online video streaming platform YouTube and the Android mobile phone operating system. The company’s main source of revenue is online advertising. The group sells advertising space on its own websites and apps, and serves as an intermediary between advertisers who want to place their ads online and websites or other apps. The services provided by Google include digital tools to manage advertising spaces, tools to manage automated campaigns and ad exchanges for buying and selling spaces.