A lot of Google’s products and services are free to use, but is it truly “free”? Not exactly. This is because Google relies heavily on revenue from ads, which is how the company primarily makes money. Unfortunately, it looks like these ads have landed Google in a bit of trouble in the EU where it is now facing a modest fine .
Google faces modest fine in the EU
According to a decision by the European Commission, following a four-year long investigation, Google will be hit with a modest fine in the EU over alleged anti-competitive practices in its adtech business.
This investigation came about following a complaint from the European Publishers Council. It alleged that Google favors its own advertising services over its rivals. What’s interesting about this is that despite it being an antitrust violation, Google isn’t being hit with a massive penalty, at least not unlike its previous run-ins with EU regulators .
This is because, according to sources, the new EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera, has a slightly different approach from her predecessor, Margrethe Vestager. Instead of slapping Big Tech companies with massive fines to act as deterrents, Ribera is placing a bigger focus on trying to get these tech companies to end their anti-competitive practices rather than reacting and fining them when they do.
Past run-ins with regulators
Like we said, this is not Google’s first run-in with regulators over in the EU. The company has been hit with fines worth billions in the past. For instance, Google was slapped with a record 4.3 billion euro fine in 2018. This was over the use of the Android mobile operating system, which the EU alleged that Google used to quash the competition.
Then, there was a fine in 2017 to the tune of 2.42 billion euro. This time, regulators claimed Google used its own price comparison shopping service to beat out rivals in the EU.
It’s not surprising that companies like Google are facing increased scrutiny from regulators. Many of us rely heavily on Google for search, work, email, entertainment, and more. Our reliance stems from the fact that most of these services are “free.” In exchange, Google serves up targeted ads. Taking a look at Google’s 2024 advertising revenue, it all makes sense. In 2024, Google earned $264.6 billion from ads. This represents 75.6% of the company’s total revenue.
