A PYMNTS Company

French Court Upholds Google Ad Fine

By  |  April 7, 2022

A French court of appeals upheld a 150 million euro fine levied against Alphabet’s Google for abusing its power over the treatment of advertisers, a spokesperson for the U.S. firm said on Thursday.

    Get the Full Story

    Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

    yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

    France’s antitrust watchdog, which levied the fine in 2019, said in its decision then that Google applied opaque advertising rules and changed them at will. 

    It was the first penalty imposed by the competition authority against Google. 

    “Following the (French competition authority’s) original decision we already made some changes to make these policies even clearer and will now study the court’s ruling in detail and consider our next steps,” Google’s spokesperson said.

    Two of the watchdog’s orders that accompanied the 150 million-euro fine were overturned, Google said. 

    The first revoked an order that compelled it to put in place a tool allowing French consumers to file complaints. The second overturned order made it compulsory for Google to issue an annual report detailing the number of websites whose Google Ads accounts were suspended for breaching its rules and the nature of the rules that were breached.

    Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.