Source: TheDrum
Google has been fined €1.5bn by the European regulators over antitrust violations within the online advertising marketing.
The fine relates to the company’s AdSense service, which the EU says forced unfair terms on companies, including preventing rivals from appearing in online search ads from “exclusivity contracts” with publishers.
These contracts evolved between 2006 and 2009 and included a “premium placement” clause which prevented rivals’ ads from being placed in certain ad spots.
“Google has cemented its dominance in online search adverts and shielded itself from competitive pressure by imposing anti-competitive contractual restrictions on third-party websites. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” said Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, adding: “The misconduct lasted over 10 years and denied other companies the possibility to compete on the merits and to innovate — and consumers the benefits of competition.”
The €1.5bn fine is the third that the EU commission has made against Google in the past two years.
