As the U.S. trudges through its high-profile case against Google’s monopoly over online advertising this week, Europe is pursuing the same target – just without the courtroom drama. Time for a look at how that’s unfolding.
Let’s start with the basics: earlier this month, the European Commission – the European Union’s executive arm – hit Google with a €2.95 billion fine for abusing its control over how ads are bought and sold in a market it also happens to run. But that was just the start. It also gave Google 60 days to come back with a fix. If it can’t – or won’t – the commission has said a breakup of Google’s ad tech business could be the only resolution.
This sounds like the antitrust case against Google in the U.S: it’s not a carbon copy of the U.S. case, but the parallels are hard to ignore. For starters, both the European Commission and the Department of Justice’s efforts trace back to the same academic groundwork: research that argued Google’s dominance stems from a built-in conflict of interest – one that wouldn’t be tolerated in most industries. In each case, the regulators came to the same conclusion. Fines aren’t working. Structural separation is the endgame.
Any differences between the two antitrust scenarios? Yes. In Europe, the commission is in the driver’s seat. If Google fails to come up with a genuine way to wean itself off of the monopoly it has built by early November then the commission can move forward with a breakup order. In the U.S., it’s not so simple. The DOJ still has to convince a judge to do the same. That’s what this week’s trial is all about.
Which antitrust case will be remedied first? Technically, Europe. The commission is expected to make a decision by early November. But that doesn’t mean enforcement will be swift. Google is almost certain to appeal the decision, dragging the process out for years on either side of the Atlantic. Still, the timeline matters. Europe will be the first to show its hand. And what happens there, whether it leads to a real remedy or stalls in appeals, could shape the next phase of Google’s antitrust reckoning everywhere else.
So the Europe antitrus