Will the U.S. Google ad tech ruling set the stage for E.U. action?

European regulators have often set the pace when it comes to reining in Big Tech. Now, after a historic U.S. antitrust ruling, leading European competition lawyers expect the European Commission to underscore that it’s game over for advertising monopolists.

“This ruling makes it more likely that the European Commission will seek a structural remedy in its Google ad tech investigation,” says Thomas Höppner, partner at Hausfeld law firm. “The same is true for the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).”

Höppner, who has represented clients in multiple investigations into Alphabet, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft, notes the timing is critical. European regulators have been building their case under general competition law, parallel to the entry into force of the Digital Markets Act, while keeping an eye on transatlantic developments.

A spokesperson for the European Commission told The Current that while it “takes note of the judgment in the U.S.,” it has “no further comment, as the investigation is ongoing.”

Still, the commission pointed to its 2023 preliminary findings, which found that “the company breached E.U. antitrust rules by distorting competition in the advertising technology industry (‘adtech').

The spokesperson added: “The Commission takes issue with Google favouring its own online display advertising technology services to the detriment of competing providers of advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers.” In 2023, the European Commission said its preliminary view was that “only the mandatory divestment by Google of part of its services would address its competition concerns.” That view now appears to have found strong validation in Washington.

The U.S. Department of Justice has echoed that view, calling for the divestiture of Google Ad Manager, including Double Click for Publishers (DFP) and AdX, as a remedy for Google’s illegal monopoly.

“[U.S. regulators’] decision, along with several similar ones around the globe, highlights the lack of viable alternatives,” Höppner says. “Google's deep conflicts of interest and its wide-ranging ability to favor its own services make it unlikely that simple behavioral commitments would be enough.”

E.U. likely to be “emboldened”

The first warnings against Google’s ad tech practices emerged in 2021, starting with the French antitrust case that led to a €220 million fine and forced Google to make “operational changes.” Since then, calls for tougher action have only grown louder.

Earlier this year, more than a dozen former E.U. presidents and prime ministers called on Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to break up Google’s ad tech business. But despite political pressure, regulators in Brussels appeared hesitant to take such a bold step — until now.

“The word on the street here in Brussels was that [E.U. regulators] were waiting for the outcome of this U.S. case before making a final decision,” says Stijn Huijts, partner at Geradin Partners law firm. His firm represents European and U.K. publishers in several lawsuits against Google’s ad tech practices and previously represented News Corp in the French antitrust case against Google in 2021. Before joining the firm, Huijts was legal director at the CMA in the U.K.

That hesitation, according to Huijts, stemmed from fears of inflaming an already volatile geopolitical landscape between Europe and the U.S. — concerns echoed by Höppner.

That may soon no longer be the case. “With today’s second U.S. ruling finding that Google violated even American antitrust laws, such protectionism arguments no longer hold water,” Höppner says.

Huijts agrees. The U.S. judgment, he says could embolden the European Commission to align more closely with its American counterparts and finally take decisive action.

What’s next: More lawsuits and potential remedies

Legal experts expect a convergence in the types of remedies around the world. “U.S. enforcers and judges appear to be aligning with the modern approach to competition law — an approach that Europe has been shaping over the past decade with its cases against Google, Apple and Meta,” Höppner says.

He adds that regulators around the world may already have “aligned their remedy approaches to ensure global consistency and prevent technological trade hurdles” as they deal with Google’s ad tech practices.

Huijts doesn’t anticipate that Google will make any changes in Europe specifically. “They will be worried that any concessions in Europe would undermine their appeal in the U.S.”

In the meantime, any action will likely come from the advertising industry in the form of private litigation. “I believe that you will start to see more damages actions in Europe,” Huijts says.

“I think that [the U.S. ruling] will give a lot of confidence and comfort to publishers and perhaps also advertisers who are looking to seek compensation from Google,” he adds.

Nobel Prize-winning economist weighs in

Even outside the legal world, momentum is building. Daron Acemoglu, MIT economist and the winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, recently weighed in on the market implications of Google’s actions.

In a Financial Times op-ed, he highlighted how critical digital advertising’s infrastructure has become for vast swathes of the economy, from publishers to advertisers to consumers.

“Google has transformed online advertising into a bottleneck that extracts profits while starving news organisations of revenue,” he wrote.

He also called on European regulators to “finish the job.”

“The Google ad tech case presents the opportunity to go beyond fines and set a global precedent for meaningful antitrust enforcement and competition,” he wrote.

The Current is owned and operated by The Trade Desk Inc. An individual from The Trade Desk was among the people included on the trial witness list.