Google to Skip Full Ad Split in Reply to €3 Billion EU Fine

(Bloomberg) -- Google will meet the European Union’s deadline to propose changes to its advertising technology business after a near-€3 billion ($3.5 billion) fine — but won’t include the full breakup the EU and industry rivals have previously pushed for.

The offer, due by early November, will avoid a complete sale of Google’s Ad Manager — the AdX exchange and DoubleClick for Publishers — according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The filing deadline could still slip, they added. 

After doling out this month’s penalty, EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera hinted that the only way to ensure fair competition may be for Google to divest unspecified “parts” of its ad tech arm, signaling a less definitive position that her predecessor Margrethe Vestager, who pitched the Ad Manager sale.

Speaking in New York on Friday, Spanish socialist Ribera doubled down, noting that Brussels regulators would “have to impose an appropriate remedy” if Google doesn’t allay the concerns. She said it seemed the only way out for the US tech giant was to sell “some part of its business,” without spelling out exactly which parts.   

Google, which has constantly opposed any calls for a divestment, declined to comment, as did the European Commission.

This month’s penalty — increased by 60% for repeat violations from draft figures — pushed the US giant’s EU antitrust bill close to €10 billion over the past decade. The company vowed to appeal.

Google had previously considered selling parts of its ad tech business to resolve antitrust concerns but these were — at the time — not deemed to have met the bar required by regulators. 

Despite EU fears of a backlash from US President Donald Trump for targeting one of America’s biggest firms, the fight is also intensifying in the US, where a judge has ruled Google illegally monopolized adtech markets. 

The Justice Department heads to court next week to press for divestment. Ribera, fresh from her first multi-billion-euro fine, meets DOJ chief Gail Slater in Washington on Friday — underlining how regulators on both sides are pushing structural fixes.

--With assistance from Josh Sisco.

(Updates with comments from Commissioner Ribera in fourth paragraph)

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