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European Union: Announced European Commission investigation into Google for alleged abusive online advertising practices

Policy overview

Description

Announced European Commission 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 place Google's advertisements above others. Google allegedly also prevented third-party websites from placing advertisements on its websites by implementing restrictive contractual clauses and generally limiting competitors' adverts.

Original source

Scope

Policy Area
Competition
Policy Instrument
Unilateral conduct regulation
Regulated Economic Activity
online advertising provider
Implementation Level
supranational
Government Branch
executive
Government Body
competition authority

Complete timeline of this policy change

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2016-07-14
under deliberation

On 14 July 2016, the European Commission issued a Statement of Objections to Google regarding Googl…

2019-03-20
in force

On 20 March 2019, the European Commission sanctioned Google with a fine of EUR 1.49 billion for vio…

2024-09-18
in force

On 18 September 2024, the European General Court annulled the European Commission's decision to imp…

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