Google's Advertising Tech Targeted in European Publishers' Complaint

Google said to have achieved end-to-end control of the advertising tech value chain.

Google's Advertising Tech Targeted in European Publishers' Complaint

European Commission opened an investigation into whether Google favours its own advertising technology

Highlights
  • Google made $147 billion (roughly Rs. 110,70 crore) in revenue
  • About 16 percent of its revenue came from the company's display business
  • Google has said it would engage constructively with the Commission
Advertisement

Alphabet unit Google on Friday became the target of an antitrust complaint by the European Publishers Council over its digital advertising business, which could potentially strengthen EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager's investigation into the issue.

Google made $147 billion (roughly Rs. 110,70 crore) in revenue from online advertisements in 2020, more than any other company in the world, with advertisements including search, YouTube and Gmail accounting for the bulk of its overall sales and profits.

About 16 percent of its revenue came from the company's display or network business, in which other media companies use Google technology to sell advertisements on their website and apps.

The European Commission opened an investigation in June into whether Google favours its own online display advertising technology services to the detriment of rivals, advertisers, and online publishers.

The publishers' trade body, whose members include Axel Springer, News UK, Conde Nast, Bonnier News, and Editorial Prensa Iberica, took its grievance to the European Commission, alleging Google has an adtech stranglehold over press publishers.

"It is high time for the European Commission to impose measures on Google that actually change, not just challenge, its behaviour," EPC Chairman Christian Van Thillo said in a statement.

"Google has achieved end-to-end control of the ad tech value chain, boasting market shares as high as 90-100 percent in segments of the ad tech chain," he said.

Vestager, who has fined Google more than EUR 8 billion (roughly Rs. 68,640 crore) in recent years for anti-competitive practices in three cases, last year launched the investigation into Google's digital advertising business.

Google has said it would engage constructively with the Commission.

© Thomson Reuters 2022


Are Oppo's new flagship phones any good? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.
Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Google, Margrethe Vestager, EU
Windows 11 Taskbar Improvements Spotted on Release Preview Ahead of Major February Update
Share on Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat Share Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News
 
 

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement

© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »