US EditionGoogle hit with EU antitrust investigation into its spam policy
The EU's Digital Markets Act probe targets Google's policy that may reduce news publishers' revenue by demoting commercial content, risking fines up to 10% of global sales.
- On Thursday, November 13, the European Commission launched a Digital Markets Act probe into Google to examine if it demotes media publishers' sites with sponsored content, EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said.
- The policy, first introduced in March 2024, triggered complaints from Italian newspaper federation FIEG and German media company ActMeraki, who say it penalises sites hosting third-party promotional content.
- Google defended the measure, saying the policy is necessary to combat deceptive pay‑for‑play tactics, with Pandu Nayak, chief scientist at Google Search, calling the probe misguided and citing a German court dismissal.
- The Commission said it will seek to conclude the probe within 12 months, and Alphabet could be fined up to 10% of worldwide turnover despite President Donald Trump's warnings.
- Following recent fines, the probe follows a €2.95 billion penalty and Penske Media Corporation's lawsuit accusing AI Overviews of reducing publishers' click-throughs, potentially setting a precedent for balancing anti-spam with publishers' models.
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Analysis:Europe forges ahead with Big Tech crackdown with X fine, defying Trump
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US technology giant Google announced changes to its advertising services today. This is in response to the European Commission's decision in September, which imposed a fine of almost three billion euros on the company for favoring its own advertising services and ordered it to end controversial practices. The company stressed that it still disputes Brussels' opinion.
Under pressure from the European Union, the US technology company Google has announced changes to its business model.
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