European officials argue that Google should separate its digital ad business due to worries about competition

According to European Union authorities, the only option to fix competition issues with Google’s digital ad business is by selling off a portion of the internet giant’s primary source of income. This judgment represents a big step forward in Brussels’ campaign against Silicon Valley’s digital behemoths and comes on the heels of a similar action taken by American authorities to break up Google’s purported monopoly on the online advertising environment. The chief antitrust enforcer in the EU, the European Commission, said its first conclusion following an investigation: “Only the mandatory divestment by Google of part of its services” would allay the worries. Before the panel makes a ruling, Google can now argue its case in defense. The commission’s decision is the result of a formal inquiry it launched in June 2021 to determine whether Google had broken the bloc’s competition laws by favoring its own online display advertising technology services at the expense of competing publishers, advertisers, and advertising technology services.

Google exploited its position of dominance on both sides of the ad-selling industry by preferring its ad exchange, which strengthened its ability to charge a premium price for its services. The reason the commission is requesting a forced sale is because previous lawsuits that resulted in penalties and demands that Google halt its anti-competitive activity did not succeed in stopping the corporation, allowing it to carry on its activities “just under a different disguise.” The British government’s antitrust watchdog is looking into Google’s operations in the United States. According to Max von Thun, head of the Open Markets Institute’s Europe office, European and American authorities are conceding that “the only way to address this egregious conflict of interest is to force Google to divest part of its business.”