EU accuses Google of antitrust violations

BRUSSELS — Alphabet's Google may have to sell part of its lucrative adtech business to address concerns over anticompetitive practices, European Union regulators said on Wednesday, threatening the company with its harshest regulatory penalty to date.

The European Commission set out its charges in a statement of objections to Google two years after opening an investigation into behaviors such as favoring its own advertising services, which could also lead to a fine of as much as 10 percent of Google's annual global turnover.

The stakes are higher for Google in this latest clash with regulators as it concerns the company's biggest moneymaker, with the advertising business accounting for 79 percent of total revenue last year.

Its advertising revenue this year, including from search services, Gmail and YouTube adverts, amounted to $224.5 billion.

Possible responses

Google has a few months to respond to the charge. It can also ask for a closed hearing in front of senior Commission antitrust officials and their national counterparts before the EU issues a decision in a process that could take a year or more. The company could also potentially settle by offering stronger remedies than previously proposed.

EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said Google may have to sell part of its adtech business because a behavioral remedy is unlikely to be effective at stopping the anticompetitive practices.

"For instance, Google could divest its sell-side tools, DFP and AdX. By doing so, we would put an end to the conflicts of interest."

Google said it disagreed with the Commission's charge.

"The Commission's investigation focuses on a narrow aspect of our advertising business and is not new," Dan Taylor, Google's vice-president of global ads, said in a statement. "We disagree with the EC's view."

Agencies Via Xinhua