BRUSSELS — Alphabet’s Google may have to sell part of its lucrative adtech business to address concerns about anti-competitive practices, EU regulators said, threatening the company with its harshest regulatory penalty to date.
European Union regulators hit Google with fresh antitrust charges, saying the only way to satisfy competition concerns about its lucrative digital ad business is by selling off parts of the tech giant’s main moneymaker.
The European Commission set out its charges in a statement of objections to Google two years after opening an investigation into behaviours such as favouring its own advertising services, which could also lead to a fine of as much as 10% of Google’s annual global turnover.
The stakes are higher for Google in this latest clash with regulators as it concerns the company’s biggest money maker, with the adtech business accounting for 79% of total revenue last year.
Its 2022 advertising revenue, including from search services, Gmail, Google Play, Google Maps, YouTube adverts, Google Ad Manager, AdMob and AdSense, amounted to $224.5 billion.
EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said Google may have to sell part of its adtech business because a behavioural remedy is unlikely to be effective at stopping the anti-competitive practices.
“For instance, Google could divest its sell-side tools, DFP and AdX. By doing so, we would put an end to the conflicts of interest,” she told a news conference according to Reuters.
“Of course I know this is a strong statement but it is a reflection of the nature of the markets, how they function and also why a behavioural commitment seemed to be out of the question.”
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