According to a report from Reuters, Google is seeking to settle its EU antitrust probe into its digital advertising business. The news comes just three months after the European Commission filed the case against the Alphabet-owned company.
The Commission opened the case against Google back in July 2021 to investigate whether the company has violated EU competition rules by favoring its own online display advertising technology against its competitors. The case was notably examining whether Google is distorting its competition by restricting access by third parties to user data for advertising purposes on websites and apps while reserving such data for its own use.
Antitrust cases in the EU have costed Google more than 8 billion Euros ($9.4 billion) in fines in three different cases over the last decade. Not just the EU, but the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has also started a probe against Google saying that the company appeared to have leveraged its dominance to reduce device makers' ability to opt for alternate versions of its mobile operating system and force them to pre-install Google apps.
The report also found that the company leveraged the position of its Play Store app to protect its dominance. Back in October 2020, the US Department of Justice had also filed a landmark lawsuit alleging that Google has unfairly boxed out competitors by reaching deals with phone makers including Apple and Samsung to be the default search engine on their devices, although the trial will begin in September 2023.
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