Clash of the Titans

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The European Union ordered Google to sell part of its advertising business after bloc regulators accused the tech giant of abusing its dominance in digital ads to undercut rivals, the Guardian reported Wednesday.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, issued the order following a two-year probe into the company’s ad-tech business. Regulators discovered that Google used its dominant position in online advertising to unfairly promote its own ad exchange, AdX, over others during auctions conducted by its own ad server, DFP.

They also found that the firm’s ad-buying tools, known as Google Ads and DV360, were designed to prioritize bids on these exchanges in a way that benefited Google.

The commission concluded that “only the mandatory divestment by Google of part of its services would address its competition concerns.” It added that so-called “behavioral remedies,” efforts that would allow Google to commit to a pro-competition course of action, were unlikely to be enough.

Still, the tech giant is allowed to respond to the EU’s concerns, as the outcome of the commission’s investigation is still pending, according to Insider.

But the decision is a major blow for Google, which generates four-fifths of its revenue from advertising across various platforms, including YouTube and Google Maps.

Google has yet to comment on the decision.

Meanwhile, the firm is facing a similar investigation by British regulators.