An EU antitrust sanction against Google that was scheduled for today was put on hold hours before the planned announcement, following opposition from EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and lobbying from Washington, MLex has learned. The plan of EU competition boss Teresa Ribera was overruled this morning with no clear sign of when the decision may come.
Google was set to receive an EU antitrust sanction today over a misuse of its powerful online ad services, but opposition from inside the European Commission as well as from the US administration saw the decision put on ice, MLex understands. EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera had this morning lined up her first major dominance-abuse fine against a US tech company, but the plan drew intervention from EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič as well as the US Department of Justice.
Antitrust investigators in Brussels first started probing Google’s powerful network of advertising services in 2021, suspecting the company had a conflict of interest through its presence on both sides of the market for buying and selling ads.
The investigation had raised the prospect of a large fine and an order for Google to sell off a business unit.
On Friday, Google was put on notice that the probe would be concluded today, and the company was awaiting further communication from the commission, MLex understands.
But, after a flurry of activity over the weekend, the final decision was suspended early this morning, hours before it was due to be revealed to the public — with no sign of when it might come.
On July 27, the EU and US reached a political deal on a new set of trade terms, putting an end to months of standoff and the prospect of steep tariffs. Their joint statement, published on Aug. 21, included a slew of tariff reductions and compromises on investment.
Last week, the commission set the wheels in motion to implement those promises, and its proposal was enough to prompt the US administration to follow through on its pledge to cut tariffs on EU cars from 27.5 to 15 percent.
But some officials fear any unexpected move from the EU could prompt a reaction from Washington, either by delaying the US tariff reduction or by shifting the tone of ongoing talks on carveouts for sensitive European sectors, such as wine and spirits.
Last week, Ribera voiced concerns that the EU was being too indulgent of US demands after President Donald Trump threatened to retaliate over a European regulatory clampdown on US tech companies. Ribera said the EU would continue enforcing its laws against such companies.
The adoption of the Google antitrust sanction was put in motion last week, but, in a highly irregular move, Šefčovič, the commissioner handling trade talks with the US, is said to have opposed the fine being released today — and moved to suspend it this morning.
The US side has been kept abreast of the planned decision and, over the weekend, Gail Slater, assistant attorney general at the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, is understood to have sent an email to her counterpart in Brussels, suggesting the decision be delayed. Ribera’s staff declined to postpone the sanction, instead pushing ahead for adoption today.
The DOJ’s message was designed to be constructive and align with the position held by the EU’s own adtech probe, MLex understands. Slater is said to have conveyed that the Google adtech cases should be kept separate from any ongoing trade talks, and parallel antitrust probes were different to the trade-focused discussions over digital regulation.
A European Commission spokesperson said the probe focused on Google “favoring its own online display advertising technology services to the detriment of competing providers of advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers.”
“We have no further comment, as the investigation is ongoing,” the spokesperson said.
Spokespeople for the White House, the DOJ and the US Embassy in Brussels didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The fate of the draft adtech decision remains unclear and it may still materialize in the coming weeks. Ribera is due to speak at an antitrust conference in New York on Sept. 19. Von der Leyen will outline her vision for the EU at a speech on Sept. 10.
— Trans-Atlantic scrutiny —
The EU probe has run in parallel to US litigation that saw a federal judge rule in April that Google had illegally monopolized some adtech markets and engaged in anticompetitive tying of products (see here).
A two-week remedy trial in the DOJ’s lawsuit against Google is set to begin on Sept. 22 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The DOJ and a coalition of 17 states suing Google are expected to file their final remedy proposals on Sept. 5.
The DOJ and states have made it known that they seek two sets of structural remedies: the forced sale of Google’s ad exchange AdX and a phased three-stage divestment of its publisher ad server called DoubleClick for Publishers, or DFP (see here). Google has opposed this proposal and vowed to appeal (see here).
In a separate DOJ lawsuit brought against Google, a Washington, DC federal judge is set to imminently hand down a decision on whether the Chrome browser should be forcibly sold off to remedy the tech giant’s illegal monopoly in the Internet search markets (see here).
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