EU Commission shows readiness to break up Google’s ad business: good news for consumers

BEUC welcomes the European Commission’s preliminary view that only the mandatory divestment by Google of part of its online advertising services would address concerns that Google abused its dominant position.

The Commission has concerns about Google favouring its own online display advertising technology services to the detriment of competing providers of advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers.

BEUC has consistently called for structural remedies to be considered in cases where requirements for companies to change their behaviour would be ineffective to tackle serious restrictions of competition that harm consumers.¹

BEUC Director General Monique Goyens said: “This is good news for consumers. We are glad that the Commission is willing to use its competition enforcement toolbox to its full extent, to stop dominant companies like Google abusing their market power as we’ve consistently called for.”

BEUC notes that the Commission’s investigation into Google’s ad business shows that competition enforcement continues to play an essential role in ensuring competitive digital markets, in addition to the Digital Markets Act.

Background:

BEUC has been involved in several cases against Google where consumers’ interests are at risk. Examples include:
•    Antirust Google Search (Shopping) case
•    Antitrust Google Android case
•    GDPR location data investigation
•    Merger between Google and Fitbit

¹ For example, in “The Role of Competition Policy in Protecting Consumers’ Well-being in the Digital Era,” BEUC proposed that to optimise enforcement of EU competition law, ‘structural remedies’ such as divestments of certain companies’ activities may be necessary “in heavily concentrated digital markets where behavioural changes cannot restore competition or put an end to the infringement”.