Google overhauls global ad model after $268 million French fine

Google agreed to pay 220 million euros ($268 million) and change the way its business works across the world after settling a France probe that struck at the heart of its power over online advertising.

France’s antitrust agency said Monday the U.S. tech giant used its dominance over ad sales and purchasing on its platforms to distort the market to its own advantage, hurting publishers such as News Corp.

“Google took advantage of its vertical integration to skew the process,” Isabelle de Silva, who heads France’s Autorité de la concurrence, said at a Paris press conference on Monday. She described Google’s behavior as “particularly serious.”