Sources say it is unlikely for now that the EU will issue an order to break up Google

EU antitrust officials are considering ordering Alphabet-owned Google to end anti-competitive practices in its ad tech business. | Image source: Reuters

EU antitrust officials are considering ordering Alphabet-owned Google to end anti-competitive practices in its ad technology business, but will not order a breakup despite previous warnings, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

European Union regulators are expected to issue a decision in the coming months on whether to impose a hefty fine after antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager threatened last year to break up Google’s lucrative advertising business.

If the threat is carried out in the first such antitrust proceeding, it would be the harshest regulatory penalty yet imposed on Google, after Vestager accused the company of favoring its own advertising services.

However, competition officials are unlikely to issue an order to dissolve the union because of the complexity of the case, the people said.

An order to dissolve the company could be issued at a later stage if Google continues to engage in anti-competitive practices, company officials said, citing a precedent-setting case involving Microsoft from two decades ago.

They added that the European Commission’s decision may change.

They say it is unlikely that an EU decision will be made before Vestager leaves office in November, but it is theoretically possible.

The Commission and Google, which has collected €8.25 billion ($9.14 billion) in EU antitrust fines over the past decade, declined to comment.

Google’s advertising revenue in 2023, including search, Gmail, Google Play, Google Maps, YouTube, Google Ad Manager, AdMob, and AdSense, was $237.85 billion, or 77% of total revenue. It is the world’s dominant digital advertising platform.

Vestager suggested that Google could sell its DFP selling tools and its own AdX ad exchange due to conflicts of interest, as Google also owns Google Ads and DV360 ad buying tools, which bids on ad exchanges.

It said the company had allegedly unlawfully favored its own ad exchange AdX in matching auctions, abusing its dominant position since 2014.

Google is currently the target of an antitrust lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice that accuses the company of attempting to monopolize the market for publisher ad servers and advertiser ad networks, as well as attempting to dominate the ad exchange market that sits in the middle.