Google Criticizes EU Antitrust Authority's Proposal To Sell Part Of The Adtech Business

Google has dominated the digital advertising market in the world. (photo: dock. pexels)

JAKARTA - The parent Alphabet of Google on Friday December 8 criticized a possible order from the EU antitrust authorities to sell part of its lucrative adtech business. They stated that it was disproportionate and inappropriate for its advertising partners.

The comments came after the US tech giant responded to allegations from the European Union issued to the company in June.

"We are against separation. We don't think it's the right result for this case. We think it's part of our very efficient business," Google Director Oliver Bethel told reporters.

"And this type of improvement will be disproportionate in this situation and we have explained it to the Commission in our response to their objection statement," he added.

The European Commission said Google has since 2014 abused its dominance in the online advertising technology industry through AdX market power, its own ad exchange from Google, on both sides of the supply chain.

It was done, the Commission said, ensuring that both intermediation tools on the purchasing side and on the sales side would support its own AdX ad exchange in the matching auction.

Taylor said that this is common practice in the industry to serve both advertisers and publishers, with a number of competitors doing the same.

"There are many companies that have adtech businesses competing with us, such as Amazon, Microsoft, Criteo, Comcast, and others," Taylor told reporters.

"They offer advertising platforms and tools like the ones we have that serve both advertisers and publishers. Now it's common to do this in the industry because it's beneficial for both advertisers and publishers," he said.

The stakes are higher for Google in its latest clashes with regulators as it relates to part of its advertising business that accounts for 79% of last year's total revenue and makes it it it its biggest source of revenue.

Google's ad revenue in 2022, including from search services, Gmail, Google Play, Google Maps, YouTube ads, Google Ad Manager, AdMob, and AdSense, reached US$224.5 billion (Rp3,496 trillion).

Google can request a closed trial to defend its case before senior EU and national antitrust officials before a decision is issued, which could happen next year.