Google proposes changes to EU AdTech rules, avoids business sale
Google has offered to make its advertising technology easier for publishers and advertisers to use, sidestepping the European Union’s push for the tech giant to sell part of its business. The move comes amid antitrust scrutiny in both Europe and the U.S. over Google’s control of ad tools and its ad exchange, AdX.
The European Commission fined Google 2.95 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in September, accusing the company of favoring its own services and harming competitors, advertisers, and publishers. Regulators suggested a potential sale of part of the adtech business to resolve conflicts of interest, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Google said its proposal addresses the EU’s concerns without a disruptive breakup that could affect thousands of European publishers and advertisers. Changes include giving publishers the ability to set different minimum prices for bidders in Google Ad Manager and increasing interoperability of its tools to offer more flexibility.
The EU could still order a breakup if anti-competitive practices continue, according to sources familiar with the case. The situation mirrors a U.S. Department of Justice investigation, which has called for the sale of AdX. Google has argued that a sale would be technically unworkable and could create prolonged uncertainty for the ad industry.
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