On 5 September 2025, the European Commission imposed a EUR 2.95 billion fine on Google for breaching EU competition rules in the online display advertising sector. The ruling is the result of a formal investigation initiated in June 2021, following a complaint from the European Publishers’ Council, which accused Google of systematically self-preferencing its own advertising services.
Based on the findings of the European Commission, through its advertising technology (adtech) infrastructure Google connects advertisers with third-party publishers, including websites and mobile applications. In this intermediary role, Google provides a suite of digital tools that facilitate the real-time placement of ads not tied to specific search queries, commonly known as display ads (e.g. banner ads that appear on newspaper websites and apps). Within the display advertising market, Google offers ad buying tools like Google Ads (primarily for smaller advertisers) and DV360 (for enterprise-level campaigns). Secondly, on the publisher side, Google provides DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), a leading ad server used by publishers to manage and optimise their available ad inventory. Finally, at the transactional layer, it runs AdX, its own ad exchange, where advertising demand and supply meet in real-time auctions.
After a multi-year investigation, the European Commission found that Google holds a dominant position in publisher ad servers through DFP, and a dominant position in ad buying tools for the open web through Google Ads and DV360. Per the Commission’s findings, from at least 2014 onward, Google abused its dominant positions in these two markets by engaging in self-preferencing on both the sell-side and buy-side of the ad tech stack.
On the publishers’ side, the European Commission found that Google was manipulating the publisher Ad Server (DFP) to Favor its own AdX. On the advertisers’ side, the Commission found that Google was involved in biasing its own Ad Buying Tools (Google Ads & DV360) toward AdX in a way that Google Ads and DV360, on which advertisers rely to place bids, were configured to prioritise AdX, even when better prices or placements were available on competing exchanges.
The European Commission has ordered Google to end its allegedly self-preferencing practices and implement measures to cease its inherent conflicts of interest along the adtech supply chain. Google now has 60 days to inform the Commission about the measures it intends to propose to that effect.
The Commission’s decision against Google in the adtech sector follows a consistent line of antitrust enforcement targeting self-preferencing by Google as a dominant digital platform. Namely, in 2017, the Commission fined Google EUR 2.42 billion in the Google Shopping case for giving its own comparison-shopping service preferential treatment in search results, demoting rivals regardless of relevance. This was later upheld by the EU courts, establishing self-preferencing as a standalone abuse under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Similarly, in 2019, Google was fined EUR 1.49 billion in the AdSense for Search case for imposing restrictive clauses on third-party websites, effectively limiting their ability to host rival search ads.
The information in this document does not constitute legal advice on any particular matter and is provided for general informational purposes only.
