French officials have penalized Google, which is one of the biggest technology giants, €220m (£189m) for violating its advertising potential. France’s competition watchdog said that Google has been expanding its online advertising business to the inconvenience of their competitors. It noticed that Google’s ad management policies for several publishers, Google Ad Manager, promoted the organization’s online ad marketplace, Google AdX. Google told it would surely revise its advertising business. They have accepted to make it simpler for publishers to use its data and tools. The company said that they will examine and improve these shifts over some time before launching them globally.
This was not the first time that the business, owned by Alphabet, has been penalized with hefty fines for befalling foul of European advertising practices. Google was penalized €1.49bn (£1.28bn) by the EU for preventing competitive online search advertisers in 2019. Besides, they were also penalized €50m (£44m) in 2019 by the French data regulator CNIL, for a violation of the EU’s data protection rules. The European Commission stated that websites frequently had an enclosed search function. When a user practices this, the website passes both search results and search adverts, which emerged beside the search result.
Alphabet-owned Google has been penalized €220 million (£189 million) by French officials for violating its advertising potential. France’s competition watchdog said that Google has been expanding its online advertising business to the inconvenience of its competitors. It noticed that Google’s ad management policies for several publishers, Google Ad Manager, promoted the search engine giant’s online ad marketplace, Google AdX.
The Mountain View company told it would revise its advertising business. Google has acknowledge it would make its advertising business simpler for publishers to use its data and tools. The goal is to examine and improve these shifts over some time before launching them globally.
A History of Abusing Monopoly in Online Ads
This was not the first time that the search engine giant has been penalized with hefty fines for befalling foul of European advertising practices. Google was penalized €1.49 billion (£1.28 billion) by the EU for preventing competitive online search advertisers in 2019. Besides, they were also penalized €50 million (£44m) in 2019 by the French data regulator CNIL, for a violation of the EU’s data protection rules.
The European Commission stated that websites followed an enclosed search function. When a user practices this, the website passes both search results and search adverts, which emerged beside the search result.
Google’s “AdSense for search” service passes those adverts for website publishers. The EU competition authority fined Google a record €4.34 billion (£3.9 billion) fine in 2018 for practicing its famous Android mobile operating system to obstruct competitors. That led to a €2.42 billion penalty in 2017 for blocking competitors of shopping comparison websites.
Google’s Serious Practices
The watchdog told Google Ad Manager presented AdX with vital data like the leading bidding prices, while AdX also relished favored access to offers made by advertisers through Google’s ad services. While AdX kept transferring data very conveniently with Ad Manager rather than with other advertising management platforms.
The platforms are essential for publishers to handle and trade advertising services. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told: “The methods followed by Google to promote its advertising agendas have influenced press groups, whose business model is profoundly reliant on ad credits. These are grave methods and they have been properly endorsed.”
The French officials began its inquiry in 2019 following a mutual accusation from News Corp, French news publishing group Le Figaro and Belgian press group Rossel. It told its resolution opens the door for publishers who were disadvantaged to seek losses from Google. The legal director of Google France, Maria Gomri told that while they consider granting worthy services and bidding on the benefits, they are dedicated to working honestly with regulators to make enhancements to their products.
The conditional limitations “headed to a foul circle”, Ms. Vestager spoke in a media conference. She told “Google’s competitors, they were not able to develop and to compete, and as an outcome of that, website owners had confined options for marketing advertising space on those particular websites, and were asked entirely to be dependent on Google”.
