Key Points:
- Belgium launched an investigation into how Google sells online advertisements.
- Regulators suspect the tech company actively abuses its massive market power.
- The inquiry is currently in its early stages with an uncertain outcome.
- Google already faces multiple antitrust probes and billions in European fines.
Belgium’s competition watchdog launched a formal investigation into Google on Friday. The authorities decided to look closely at exactly how the tech giant manages and sells its online advertisements to businesses of all sizes.
Officials reported finding serious warning signs that Google routinely breaks established antitrust rules. Regulators suspect the company actively abuses its dominant position in the digital market to squeeze out competitors and tightly control the online advertising space.
The Belgian watchdog clarified that this inquiry currently remains in its preliminary phase. Investigators still need to gather a massive amount of evidence, and they cannot predict what the final outcome will be or if they will ultimately issue any financial penalties.
This new Belgian probe adds to a rapidly growing list of legal headaches for Google across the continent. The European Union is already investigating the search engine giant for several other major antitrust issues. Over the last few years, European regulators have successfully forced Google to pay billions of euros in heavy fines for engaging in unfair business practices.
The regulatory pressure simply keeps mounting. Just earlier this month, Google sent a warning letter to its advertising partners. The company revealed it might soon face yet another massive antitrust investigation coming directly from the European Commission. Those top regulators worry Google actively manipulates the market to unfairly push online advertising prices much higher than they should naturally go.
Google strongly defends its current business model against these serious accusations. The company completely dominates the multibillion-dollar online ad industry, but executives insist their services do far more good than harm for the economy.
They argue that Google Search ads give small local businesses the exact tools they need to fight back and compete against massive global brands. Google also claims this massive stream of advertising revenue is exactly what keeps the internet free and accessible for everyday users around the world.
