EU reportedly opens one other probe into Google’s advertisements pricing

The European Fee has opened a brand new probe into Google, this time centered on the corporate’s large internet marketing enterprise, Bloomberg reports. European Union regulators have already fined Google billions for violating the Digital Markets Act, and being discovered responsible of anticompetitive conduct in internet marketing may add to that whole.

Whereas the Fee has but to announce a proper investigation, Bloomberg writes that it has began contacting Google’s prospects and opponents for details about its dominance throughout a number of internet marketing markets. Regulators are significantly involved that Google could possibly be “artificially growing the clearing value” of advert auctions “to the detriment of advertisers.” If the corporate is discovered to be violating the EU’s competitors guidelines, Google could possibly be fined 10 % of its world annual gross sales.

Google’s strategy to promoting to minors was reportedly already under investigation by the EU as of December 2024, and moreover fines, regulators have ordered the corporate to open up Android to competing AI assistants and share search knowledge with rivals. Within the US, there’s additionally precedent for locating Google’s strategy to internet marketing anticompetitive.

A US federal choose discovered that Google is a monopolist in online advertising in April 2025, the conclusion of a authorized battle that began with a Department of Justice lawsuit accusing the corporate of dominating the advert market and utilizing its management to cost extra and preserve a bigger portion of advert gross sales. The DOJ finally desires Google to promote its advert tech enterprise, however a final decision hasn’t been reached as to how the corporate’s anticompetitive conduct must be remedied.