France: Issued ruling against Google for opaque and inconsistent advertisement rules

On 19 December 2019, the French Competition Authority (FCA) sanctioned Google with a fine of EUR 150 million for applying opaque and inconsistent advertisement rules. Google has advertisement rules in place, that are not only non-objective but also lack transparency and actively discriminate against competitors. Due to Google's dominance in the market, advertisers can either accept these rules or stop using Google's advertisement services, harming themselves in the process. Google has applied the rules in an inconsistent matter, harming both consumers and advertisers. As a consequence, innovative sites have been prevented from entering the market and harmful sites have continued to exist, according to the FCA. Besides the fine, Google has also received a cease-and-desist order. Google is obliged to clarify its advertisement rules as well as the suspension procedures. Further, Google must publish the decision by the FCA on its homepage for a duration of seven days. Google is also obliged to issue a tool for complaints for consumers, as well as detail all websites that were suspended by Google for breaching its ad rules in an annual report.