It has become known that the French antitrust regulator has fined Google β¬150 million, which is approximately $167 million. The report says that this decision was made due to the fact that Google is abusing its βdominant position in the advertising market.β The regulator believes that the American company uses opaque rules and changes them at its own request.
The French regulator's punishment was a first for Google, but French authorities continue to conduct an antitrust investigation into the tech giant, examining the American company's business practices.
The investigation lasted four months; it was launched after a complaint from the French company Gibmedia, which accused Google of unjustifiably blocking an account in the Google AdSense contextual advertising service. Ultimately, the regulator concluded that by changing the rules for using the service at its own discretion, Google was abusing its market position.
The department also noted that the unclear wording of the rules gives Google the opportunity to interpret them differently in each individual case related to companies using the AdSense advertising service. In addition to the fine, the regulator ordered Google to make the wording of the rules more transparent and understandable.
βThe way the rules are applied gives Google the ability to influence smaller companies whose scope of activity is limited to the advertising business. One of the great principles of competition law is that with great power comes great responsibility,β Isabelle de Silva, the head of France's competition authority, said at a press conference.
Source: 3dnews.ru