Business: Google announced major changes to its ad services on Friday, just a day after the European Commission launched a new digital competition investigation. Our proposal fully resolves this decision without any disruptive division, a Google spokesperson said. This will harm thousands of European publishers and advertisers who use Google tools to grow their businesses.
However, the company said, it still disagrees with the European Union (EU) decision and plans to appeal the fine. Google’s move comes two months after Brussels imposed an anti-competition fine of 2.95 billion euros on the company for allegedly giving preferential treatment to its advertising services.
Product changes included in Google plan
Google’s new plan includes immediate product changes. These include giving publishers the option to set different minimum prices for different bidders on Google Ads Manager. The company also said it would improve the interoperability of its tools for publishers and advertisers to address EU concerns over conflict of interest. Google is also facing investigation in America.
Fine of Rs 54.2 crore in German court
Berlin. In a major blow to Google, a German court has ordered German price-comparison platform Idealo to pay damages of Rs 54.2 crore. The court found that Google abused its strong hold in the market. Idealo alleged that Google enjoyed an unfair advantage in the market for price-comparison services between 2008 and 2023.
