France has set aside 220 million euros from Google for its anti-advertising monopoly

French competition regulators have fined Google 220 million euros for abusing its leading position in the online advertising market and changing the way it operates in the country in three years.

Google explained in detail how the case dominates the world of online advertising and the pattern of other lawsuits by U.S. states like Texas against Google and regulatory investigations Brussels and countries such as the United Kingdom and Italy.

Google has said it will not appeal the consequences of the case, and has said it will implement some remedies worldwide, according to a statement From the French Competition Authority.

“Google used a vertically integrated business model to gain an advantage over other competitors in display advertising,” French Competition Authority President Isabelle de Silva said in a statement on Monday.

“This is the first study in the world to look at Google’s predominant on-screen advertising space, and it’s the first time Google has agreed to an agreement with commitments. This case will be of interest to other regulators studying the online advertising market and technology.”

In 2019 the lawsuit began with a complaint by News Corp, the French newspaper Le Figaro and the Belgian Groupe Rossel. Le Figaro decided to step down in November 2020.

The researchers found that Google, which has the leading tools for buying and selling online ads, as well as the largest online ad market, linked its products together in a way that disadvantaged rivals.

In particular, they looked at the close relationship between Google’s AdX exchange, the market where ads are auctioned, and Google’s Ad Manager, since DoubleClick made a $ 3.1 billion purchase in 2008.

They said that Google shared information about Ad Manager’s pricing opponents to give AdX an advantage over other auction houses. This “distorts the playing field,” Da Silva said.

Google said it will “increase the flexibility” of the ad manager to “facilitate” publishers and advertisers to “use the data and use our tools with other ad technologies.”

In one blog post, the company said it is committed to “increasing access to data” for users and stressed its commitment to greater transparency.

Damien Geradin, a legal representative for News Corp., said the decision was “very important” because Google was violating EU rules, which the search engine did not find using various anti-competitive tactics.

Geradin added that the decision will provide “ammunition” to several competition authorities, Brussels and the US, that similar cases are open against Google.

He added: “The language used by the French decision is quite common. The decision has been considered a very serious breach.”

While the fine was “lower,” he said the remedies are designed to ensure greater interoperability between Google’s ad server and ad exchanges. “This should allow these other ad exchanges to be in a better position to compete with Google.”