European Commission Sends Statement Of Objections To Google For Favouring Adtech Services

(RTTNews) - The European Commission, on Wednesday, said it has informed Google of its preliminary view that the company breached EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in the advertising technology industry by favouring the company's own online display advertising technology services.

"Google is present at almost all levels of the adtech supply chain. Our preliminary concern is that Google may have used its market position to favour its own intermediation services. If confirmed, Google's practices would be illegal under our competition rules," said Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy.

The Commission stated that, should it conclude that Google acted in an illegal manner, it might require Google to divest part of its services. Google could divest its sell-side tools, DFP and AdX to put an end to the conflicts of interest, the Commission noted.

"Google will now have the opportunity to respond to our concerns," The Commission concluded.