Google, the tech titan synonymous with online search and digital advertising, is once again at the center of a global regulatory storm. On September 5, 2025, the European Union’s executive arm, the European Commission, announced a staggering 2.95 billion euro fine—about $3.5 billion—against Google for what it described as years of anti-competitive behavior in the digital advertising technology sector. The penalty, one of the largest ever levied against a technology company, underscores the EU’s growing determination to rein in Big Tech’s power and reshape the digital marketplace.
This latest sanction marks the fourth time since 2017 that Brussels has slapped Google with a multibillion-euro fine for antitrust violations. The Commission’s investigation, which formally began in June 2021, zeroed in on Google’s ad-tech ecosystem—specifically, its AdX exchange and DFP ad platform. These tools serve as the connective tissue between advertisers seeking to promote their products and publishers hoping to monetize their content through ad sales. According to the Commission, Google systematically favored its own ad-tech services, to the detriment of both competitors and the broader digital economy.
“Today’s decision shows that Google abused its dominant position in adtech, harming publishers, advertisers, and consumers. This behaviour is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” declared Teresa Ribera, the EU’s competition chief, in a statement reported by Search Engine Land. The Commission found that Google’s conduct led to higher marketing costs for advertisers—costs that were likely passed on to European consumers—and squeezed revenue for publishers, potentially resulting in lower-quality content and higher subscription fees.
The heart of the Commission’s case lies in the way Google’s ad buying tools, like Google Ads and DV 360, interact with its ad exchange (AdX) and publisher servers (DFP). The regulators allege that Google tipped the scales by informing AdX in advance of the value of the best competing bid, giving its own platform an unfair edge. Additionally, Google Ads was found to avoid rival exchanges, instead funneling bids primarily through AdX, further entrenching Google’s dominance even when alternatives might have offered better deals for advertisers.
The Commission’s remedy is twofold. Not only must Google pay the hefty fine, but it’s also been ordered to end its “self-preferencing practices” and resolve “conflicts of interest” along the adtech supply chain. Google has been given 60 days from the announcement to propose how it will comply. If Google fails to present an acceptable plan, the Commission has warned that it will not hesitate to impose a structural remedy—potentially forcing the company to divest parts of its lucrative ad-tech business. “At this stage, it appears that the only way for Google to end its conflict of interest effectively is with a structural remedy, such as selling some part of its Adtech business,” Ribera explained in comments reported by the Associated Press.
Google, for its part, has pushed back forcefully against the EU’s findings and the scale of the penalty. “The European Commission’s decision about our ad tech services is wrong and we will appeal. It imposes an unjustified fine and requires changes that will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, the company’s Global Head of Regulatory Affairs, in a statement shared with Engadget and other outlets. She further argued, “There’s nothing anticompetitive in providing services for ad buyers and sellers, and there are more alternatives to our services than ever before.”
The ruling has not only reignited debate over the role of digital giants in Europe but also stoked transatlantic tensions. Former President Donald Trump, speaking out on his Truth Social platform, lambasted the EU’s decision as “very unfair” and threatened retaliatory measures. “Very unfair, and the American Taxpayer will not stand for it! As I have said before, my Administration will NOT allow these discriminatory actions to stand,” Trump wrote, as cited by the Associated Press and Axios. He even floated the possibility of launching a trade investigation to “nullify” what he characterized as discriminatory penalties against American tech firms.
This is not the first time Google has faced such scrutiny. The company’s history with European regulators is long and fraught. In 2017, Google was fined $2.7 billion for abusing its dominance in search; in 2018, a $5 billion penalty followed for anticompetitive practices related to its Android operating system; and in 2019, a $1.7 billion fine targeted Google’s advertising practices. Despite these eye-popping sums, many analysts suggest that, given Google’s vast revenues—$28.2 billion in the second quarter of this year alone—such fines are more symbolic than transformative. “The EU's $3.45 billion adtech fine against Google may sound steep, but for a company that we forecast to generate $223.16 billion in ad revenue next year, it's less a knockout punch than a regulatory shot across the bow,” observed Jeremy Goldman, an analyst at Emarketer, in comments to Axios.
What sets this latest action apart, however, is the explicit threat of structural remedies. The Commission’s patience with fines and behavioral commitments appears to be wearing thin. As Cori Crider, a senior fellow at the Future of Technology Institute, put it to the Associated Press, “Only a break-up will fix Google’s monopoly. If Europe’s enforcers flinch on a break-up in the end, Google will rightly chalk a fine up as a win.” The Commission’s insistence on exploring a forced sale of Google’s ad-tech assets signals a willingness to pursue more drastic interventions if the company’s proposed remedies fall short.
Meanwhile, Google faces mounting pressure not just in Europe, but globally. In the United States, the Department of Justice has launched its own case against the company’s ad-tech business, seeking remedies that could include divestment of the very same AdX and DFP services. The U.S. case is set to move into its penalty phase later this month, and the EU’s findings may well influence the outcome. Authorities in Canada and the United Kingdom, too, are scrutinizing Google’s conduct in the digital ad market.
As the 60-day deadline ticks down, the stakes for Google—and for the future of digital advertising—are high. Will the company propose changes sufficient to satisfy Europe’s increasingly assertive regulators, or will the world witness the forced dismantling of a cornerstone of Google’s business empire? For now, one thing is certain: the battle over Big Tech’s power is far from over, and both sides are digging in for a long fight.
With Google’s appeal looming, and the possibility of even harsher remedies on the horizon, the digital advertising landscape faces a period of profound uncertainty. The outcome could reshape not just Google’s fortunes, but the very structure of the online economy for years to come.
