Google’s ad business in Europe could be ordered to break up as EU antitrust watchdog prepares complaint

The European Commission could issue a complaint as early as Wednesday, a source told Reuters, intensifying efforts to diminish Google’s ad tech dominance

Break-up orders from the EU are rare, but there has been mounting frustration after Google failed to address competition concerns, the source said

Reading Time:1 minute

Published: 9:42am, 13 Jun 2023

European Union antitrust regulators may order Alphabet Inc’s Google to sell a part of its advertising-technology business, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday.

The EU’s top antitrust watchdog, the European Commission, could issue a formal complaint against Google as early as Wednesday, the source said, further intensifying trans-Atlantic efforts to diminish the tech giant’s dominance in digital ads.

In 2022, the Commission launched an investigation into Google’s sweeping presence at almost all levels of the supply chain for online display advertising, expressing concern about its dominant position.

Break-up orders from the EU competition enforcer are rare. However, frustration has been mounting after Google failed to address competition concerns, the source said.

The Commission and Google did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Google is the most dominant digital advertising platform in the world with a 28 per cent market share of global ad revenue, according to research firm Insider Intelligence.

First-quarter ad sales at Alphabet slipped from a year earlier to US$54.55 billion, but beat what analysts were expecting. The Google parent’s total revenue during the period stood at US$69.79 billion.