Google fined $268 million as France tackles big tech ad power

Google agreed to pay 220 million euros ($268 million) to settle a French antitrust probe over its abuse of power in online advertising.

The French Competition Authority said Google has been unfairly sending business to its advertising server and its online-ad auction house, to the detriment of rivals.

In addition to the fine, Google promised to remedy the situation by improving the interoperability of its Google Ad Manager services for third parties.

“The decision fining Google is particularly significant as it is the first throughout the world to tackle complex algorithmic auction processes used for online display-advertising,” Isabelle de Silva, who heads France’s Autorité de la concurrence, said in a statement on Monday.