EU Fines Google €2.95 Billion, Fueling US-EU Tension Over Tech Regulations

The European Union has imposed a €2.95 billion fine on Google for violating antitrust regulations in the adtech industry. Former President Donald Trump views this as an economic confrontation and a drain on the U.S. economy, arguing that U.S. tech giants face undue penalties in Europe. Google has been ordered to end its anti-competitive practices and mitigate conflicts of interest within the adtech supply chain within 60 days.

Title: EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google for Adtech Violations

The European Union has imposed a €2.95 billion fine on Google for violating antitrust regulations in the adtech industry. The fine, announced on September 2, 2025, is the latest in a series of penalties levied against the tech giant by EU competition regulators.

The European Commission determined that Google abused its dominance in the display advertising market by favoring its own ad exchange services, thereby blocking out competitors and harming advertisers, publishers, and other adtech companies. The Commission ordered Google to cease these self-preferential practices and address inherent conflicts of interest within the adtech supply chain within 60 days [1].

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has criticized the fine, viewing it as part of an economic confrontation and a drain on the U.S. economy. He argued that U.S. tech giants face undue penalties in Europe and that the U.S. taxpayer will not stand for it [3].

Google has vowed to appeal the decision, stating that the fine is unjustified and that the required changes will hurt thousands of European businesses. The company maintains that there is nothing anticompetitive in providing services for ad buyers and sellers, and that there are more alternatives to its services than ever before [1].

This fine follows a series of penalties against Google, including a €4.125 billion Android penalty and a €2.42 billion fine for crushing shopping search [1]. Google is also facing a similar challenge in the United States, where a federal judge has ruled that the company operates an illegal monopoly in both ad exchanges and ad servers [2].

The European Publishers Council has lamented the absence of a breakup order, arguing that a fine will not fix Google's abuse of its adtech business. Cori Crider, Senior Fellow at Future of Tech Institute, has urged the Commission to take a drastic step with a breakup order to unlock the €120 billion market for European business and save the dying media sector [1].

References:
[1] https://www.tradingview.com/news/reuters.com,2025:newsml_L8N3US10W:0-google-hit-with-3-45-billion-eu-antitrust-fine-over-adtech-practices/
[2] https://www.adweek.com/media/google-fine-adtech-violate-eu-competition-law/
[3] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-threatens-trade-actions-eu-194232715.html