EU Imposes Record Fine on Google for Ad Market Misconduct

Sun Sep 14 2025 03:22:48 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The European Commission fines Google €2.95 billion for preferential treatment of its advertising products, claiming it's damaging competition.

In a significant move, the EU has fined Google €2.95 billion for breaching competition laws in the ad tech sector. The European Commission accused Google of favoring its own products, impacting rivals negatively. This marks Google's third violation of EU competition regulations, prompting potential structural remedies. Google intends to appeal the decision.

The European Union has levied a hefty fine of €2.95 billion (£2.5 billion) on Google, alleging that the tech giant has abused its dominant position in the advertising technology sector. The European Commission announced the decision, stating that Google breached competition laws by favoring its own products for displaying online ads, which has adversely affected its competitors.

This recent ruling falls amid rising scrutiny from global regulators regarding Google's extensive power in online search and advertising. Google promptly responded by labeling the decision as wrong and has announced plans to appeal the ruling.

Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's global head of regulatory affairs, expressed concerns about how the fine and mandated changes could negatively impact thousands of European businesses, claiming that they would struggle to generate revenue. She added that there are more alternatives to Google’s services than ever.

The Commission's decision also highlighted Google's practice of self-preferencing its own advertising exchange, AdX, placing it ahead of competing exchanges where ads are sold in real-time. This practice, the regulator stated, has led to increased costs for competitors and publishers, which could in turn elevate service prices for consumers.

This marks the third time that Google has been fined for manipulating competition rules, with previous fines including a record €4.34 billion in 2018 for its conduct regarding the Android operating system. The Commission indicated that this history of non-compliance warranted an increased fine in this newest decision.

Furthermore, Teresa Ribera, executive vice president of the Commission, issued a warning to Google to outline how it plans to rectify these practices within 60 days—failure to do so may lead the Commission to impose additional measures, which might include forcing Google to divest parts of its ad tech business.

Earlier this week, the Commission had denied claims that the announcement of this fine was postponed due to tensions in EU-U.S. trade relations, as highlighted by criticism from figures such as former President Donald Trump about the EU's regulatory actions against American tech firms.