Google is reportedly facing antitrust charges from the European Union that could hit its advertising technology business, which is Google’s main source of income. Bloomberg who confirmed the development said the charges will be made public as soon as possible and will be targeting Google’s advertising technology business.
About 80% of Google’s annual revenue comes from its advertising division. With an estimated $225 billion in advertising revenue in 2022 alone, it is clear how important advertising is to the business.
According to one of the persons, the latest complaint is the most serious in the European Commission’s current five-year antitrust oversight authority. It will be the culmination of a protracted affair that has already resulted in three EU fines totaling more than $8.6 billion.
Although fines for breaking EU antitrust regulations can be as high as 10% of a company’s global turnover, few fines reach that level, thus Google’s financial performance is probably not going to be significantly impacted. Regulators frequently demand that businesses adjust their organizational structures, which can be challenging.
In 2021, the European Union opened its first inquiry into Google’s ad tech practice to learn how the company prevented competitors from accessing user data for online advertising and how it shielded its data from third parties.
A stunning 4.34 billion euros in fines levied by the European Union against Google for how it manages its Android operating system are among the penalties the company is still appealing in court against. Last year, EU justices reduced the penalty to 4.125 billion euros, but Google is still appealing to the EU’s top court.
At the time of press, the new charges against Google are yet to be published. Although Bloomberg confirms that it will be released as soon as Wednesday. Thus, stay tuned as we keep you updated.