The European Commission levied a small fine on Google's AdTech business, but it did not require its divestiture, only to restrain anti-competitive behavior.

The European Commission is ready to issue a small fine on Google as part of its antitrust action against the company in its AdTech business. Reuters has reported that the fine will not be as much as the EUR4.3 billion fine imposed on Google in 2018 and will not compel the tech company to sell sections of its AdTech business.

The case is a result of claims that Google had misused its power in the AdTech sector since 2014 by bidding its own ad exchange, AdX, during auctions. Regulators believe that this practice was harmful to competition, whereas Google always says that it is the norm in the AdTech industry to serve both advertisers and publishers.

The softer sentence is indicative of the stance of the EU antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera, who emphasized correcting the antitrust behavior rather than fining the offenders. In 2024, Google's AdTech division was critical, as the revenue generated by advertising constituted 75.6% of its total income.

In the U.S. in the meantime, Google is involved in another legal tussle, as the Justice Department has been advocating the sale of its major AdTech properties, such as AdX and DFP, to bring back competition.