European Union: European Commission antitrust investigation into Google for alleged abusive practices in the online advertising market

Progress

Current status
in force
20 Mar 2019 in force
14 Jul 2016 under deliberation

Scope

Implementers
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Policy Area
Competition
Policy Instrument
Unilateral conduct regulation
Regulated Economic Activity
online advertising provider
Government Branch
executive
Government Body
central government
Implementation Level
supranational

Timeline of events

20 Mar 2019
in force

Google fined €1.49 billion for abusive online advertising practices

On 20 March 2019, the European Commission sanctioned Google with a fine of €1.49 billion for violating EU antitrust rule Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Specifically, Google prevented third-party websites f…

Source
Event type investigation
Action type ruling
Government branch executive
Government body central government
14 Jul 2016
under deliberation

Announced investigation into Google for alleged abusive online advertising practices

On 14 July 2016, the European Commission issued a Statement of Objections to Google regarding Google's alleged abuse of dominance regarding Google AdSense. Specifically, Google allegedly required its partners to exclusively use Google AdSense and pl…

Source
Event type investigation
Action type announcement
Government branch executive
Government body central government