According to the latest report, Google is seeking a settlement in the EU antitrust investigation against its digital advertising business. Just three months ago, the European Commission filed a lawsuit against the Alphabet company. The European Commission filed a lawsuit against Google as early as July 2021 to investigate whether the company violated EU competition rules and favored its online display advertising technology rather than competitors.
The case is mainly to investigate whether Google restricts third-party access to user data used for advertising purposes on websites and applications, and retains these data for its own use, thereby distorting competition.
In the past ten years, EU antitrust cases have spent more than 8 billion euros in fines in three different cases. Not only the European Union, but the Competition Commission of India (CCI) also launched an investigation into Google, which said the company appears to use its dominant position to reduce the ability of device manufacturers to choose alternative versions of their mobile operating systems and force them to pre-install Google apps.
The report also found that the company used its Play Store application status to protect its dominance. As early as October 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice also filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Google of unfairly squeezing out competitors and reaching agreements with mobile phone manufacturers, including Apple and Samsung, to become devices on their devices. The default search engine. However, the trial will not begin until September 2023.
