France fines Google 220 mn euros over online ad dominance

France’s competition regulator on Monday fined Google 220 million euros (more than Rs. 1900 crore) after finding it had abused its dominant market position for placing online ads, as US tech giants face growing pressure in Europe.

The penalty is part of a settlement reached after three media groups — News Corp, French daily Le Figaro and Belgium’s Groupe Rossel — accused Google of effectively having a monopoly over ad sales for their websites and apps.

The competition authority determined that Google gave preferential treatment to its own ad inventory auction service AdX and to Doubleclick Ad Exchange, its real-time platform for letting clients choose and buy ads.