The European Commission said on Tuesday it had opened a formal probe into Google’s digital advertising business in order to assess whether the U.S. company is distorting competition by favoring its own business.
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The probe is to determine whether Google
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is “restricting access by third parties to user data for advertising purposes on websites and apps, while reserving such data for its own use,” the European Commission said in a release. -
Google generated $147 billion in revenue from online ads last year, according to Reuters.
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The European Union competition watchdog has fined the company more than €8 billion ($9.5 billion) in the last decade for distorting competition in online shopping, Android smartphones and online advertising.
From the archives (April 2021): Google pledges $29 million to new EU fund to tackle fake news
The outlook: The probe, which began informally two years ago, is similar to one initiated by a group of U.S. states last year. It will now last for months, and the Commission has no deadline to bring it to an end.