The European Union has imposed a penalty of €2.95 billion, which is roughly US $3.5 billion, on Alphabet’s Google after finding that the company distorted competition in online advertising technology (via WSJ ).

The Commission has accused Google of abusing its dominant position by favoring its own ad exchange services over those of rivals, a practice often labelled as self-preferencing and harmful to publishers and advertisers across Europe.

This ruling marks Google’s fourth major antitrust sanction in recent years and follows earlier fines for anti-competitive behaviour in areas like mobile operating systems and shopping search results. The case traces back to a formal EU investigation launched in June 2021 prompted by concerns raised by the European Publishers Council.

Regulators say

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