"When you have great powers, you have great responsibilities," said Isabelle De Silva, president of the French Competition Authority. In this perspective, the French authority imposed, Friday, December 20, 150 million fine to Google for an abuse of dominant position on the market of search advertising (Google Ads).
The Authority, which had never sanctioned the American giant, also ordered Google to "clarify the operating rules of its advertising platform Google Ads and procedures for suspending accounts" of certain advertisers.
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"This is the third most important sanction" ever pronounced for abuse of a dominant position by the Competition Authority, said in a press conference Isabelle De Silva,
Google ordered to comply with injunctions
"It is perfectly legitimate for an operator like Google to have rules" for access to its search advertising service, she added. "But these rules must be clear (...), that they are not at the head of the client" or applied "erratically", she added.
"Google's dominance is extraordinary" in the search engine advertising market, she said. "We estimate this market share between 90 and 100%, some believe that it is closer to 95% than 90%," she continued.
The vagueness on the rules applied by Google vis-à-vis advertisers "may have discouraged the development of innovative sites," said the Competition Authority in its statement.
"Google must present within 2 months a report detailing the measures and procedures it intends to take to comply with the injunctions," said the Authority.
The digital giant has already announced that it will appeal the decision.
With AFP
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