A drop of water compared to the turnover achieved thanks to online advertising ... The French Competition Authority condemned the Web giant to pay a fine of 220 million euros for having promoted its own services in the online advertising industry, she said in a statement Monday.
The group "did not dispute the facts" and the fine was decided in the context of a transaction procedure with Google, said the Competition Authority which had initially been seized by the press groups, News Corp, Rossel and Le Figaro, who then withdrew from the proceedings.
"The Authority noted that Google has granted preferential treatment to its proprietary technologies offered under the Google Ad Manager brand," said the Authority.
"The practices in question are particularly serious because they have penalized Google's competitors in the SSP market (platforms on which publishers sell their advertising space, Editor's note) and publishers of sites and mobile applications", including especially press editors.
$ 55.31 billion thanks to online advertising
Beyond the financial sanction, the American giant has offered commitments aimed at resolving the problems highlighted by the Authority's investigation.
"This is a historic decision" because "it is the first decision in the world to examine the complex algorithmic auction processes by which online" display "advertising works" "(which is displayed on the screens of Internet users). ), said the president of the Competition Authority, Isabelle de Silva, in a press conference.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, achieved $ 55.31 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2021, mostly through online advertising.
The company faces lawsuits from authorities in several countries on the competition law front.
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