EU antitrust order to Google’s adtech business unlikely for now: Report | World News
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EU antitrust officials are considering ordering Alphabet’s Google to end anti-competitive practices in its adtech business, but will not order a breakup as they had previously warned, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
European Union regulators are due to issue a decision in the coming months after antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager last year threatened to break up Google’s lucrative adtech business.
If this threat had been carried through, it would have been the harshest regulatory penalty to date against Google, after Vestager charged it with favouring its own advertising services.
But in what would be a first for an antitrust case, competition officials will likely not issue a breakup order because of the complexity involved, the people said.
A break-up order could come at a later stage if Google continues its anti-competitive practices, they said, pointing to a precedent setting case involving Microsoft two decades ago.
The European Commission’s decision could evolve, they added.
An EU decision is unlikely to come before Vestager leaves office in November, they said, but is still theoretically possible.
The Commission declined to comment.
Google did not respond to a request for a comment.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First Published: Sep 13 2024 | 11:06 PM IST
