EU antitrust regulators charge Google on anti-competitive adtech practices

Alphabet’s Google was charged by EU antitrust regulators with anti-competitive practices in its digital advertising business on Wednesday and may have to sell part of this business to address their concerns.
The European Commission set out its charges in a statement of objections, two years after it opened an investigation into the case.
The EU competition enforcer said in a statement, “The Commission takes issue with Google favouring its own online display advertising technology services to the detriment of competing providers of advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers.”
It said Google has since 2014 abused its dominance by favouring its own ad exchange AdX in the ad selection auction by its dominant publisher ad server DFP and also by favouring its ad exchange AdX in the way its ad buying tools Google Ads and DV360 place bids on ad exchanges.
The EU competition watchdog said a behavioural remedy is unlikely to be effective to stop the anti-competitive practices.