EU threatens Google LLC with split-up of adtech division
The EU Competition Commission is investigating whether Google is abusing its position in the ad tech market. This is because the company controls the buy and sell side of the trade. If this is the case, the EU is threatening to split up the two areas.
In an investigation, the EU Competition Commission has concluded that Google controls both sides of the ad tech market. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Verstager announced this on Twitter. A further investigation will now show whether the technology company is exploiting its position of power. In the most extreme case for Google, the purchase and sale of advertising should be split up.
Google is best known for its search engine, YouTube, Google Maps and Android. However, the company's main source of income is online advertising. On the one hand, Google sells these on its own sites and, on the other hand, acts as an intermediary between site operators and advertisers.
Google operates adtech platforms for this purpose. Because website operators and advertisers are dependent on these, Google is dominant in the online advertising market. The Commission is of the opinion that Google has been exploiting this since 2014. Google is said to have communicated the best offers to itself and outcompeted other platforms through the exchange of information. Costs are also said to have been inflated. If this is confirmed, Google is in breach of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), according to the Competition Commission. This prohibits the abuse of a dominant market position.
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