The EU antitrust officials want to investigate Google’s policies on running ads on YouTube, Reuters reports.
Advertising is a key source of revenue for Google, and the company makes billions of dollars in this way. But advertising has always been a controversial issue for Google, and watchdogs constantly accused Google of monopolizing advertising.
For advertising on YouTube, Google asks the advertisers to submit their ads through the company’s exclusive Ad Manager platform and use Display & Video 360. As a result, no ads from rival platforms can be displayed on YouTube. The EU is now investigating this case and might make Google change its advertising policies on YouTube.
“We have been engaging constructively with the European Commission. We don’t have anything further to share at this stage. As with the Privacy Sandbox initiative, we are committed to working with regulators and the wider industry to achieve the best possible outcomes.” a Google spokesperson told Engadget.
The EU forces Google to let rivals launch ads on YouTube
In 2020, the European Commission started investigating Google’s ad tech. This investigation aimed to see if Google benefited from an unfair competitive advantage in advertising. At the time, the EU officials reacted to YouTube’s advertising restrictions and expressed concern about it.
According to Reuters, If the EU can prove Google’s allegations, this subcategory of the Alphabet may face a fine of as much as 10 percent of its global turnover. So the company is ready to fully cooperate with the EU to avoid paying fines. Alphabet made $257 billion in 2021, and a 10 percent fine can cause the company to lose significant money.
The allegations against Google’s business and ad practices have increased in the US and abroad. Recently, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a probe into Google and Apple’s so-called “effective duopoly.”
Last month, the US senators also filed a bill to break up Google’s ad business. The bill aims to prevent companies with over $20 billion in annual digital ad transactions “from participating in more than one part of the digital advertising ecosystem.”