European Union authorities fined Google 2.95 billion euros ($3.45 billion) for engaging in anti-competitive behavior in its profitable advertising technology division.

Google was accused by the European Commission, the EU's executive body, of unjustly favoring its own display advertising technology services over those of competitors, online publishers, and advertisers, so distorting competition in the so-called adtech sector.

In the midst of escalating trade tensions between major world powers and US threats of reprisal over EU monitoring of American internet corporations, Google has been hit with four penalties in its ten-year battle with EU competition regulators.

The Commission said that Google's preference for its own online display technology services allowed it to charge exorbitant rates for its service, which hurt competitors and online publishers, and strengthened the position of its own ad exchange, AdX, as a key link in the adtech supply chain. Google has been abusing its market position since 2014, according to the EU watchdog.

“Today’s decision shows that Google abused its dominant position in adtech, harming publishers, advertisers, and consumers. This behaviour is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said.

“Google must now come forward with a serious remedy to address its conflicts of interest, and if it fails to do so, we will not hesitate to impose strong remedies.”

Google’s global head of regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, said the EU decision is “wrong” and the firm will appeal.

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“It imposes an unjustified fine and requires changes that will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money,” Mulholland said. “There’s nothing anticompetitive in providing services for ad buyers and sellers, and there are more alternatives to our services than ever before.”

To determine whether the tech giant favors its own online display ad technology services, the EU initially launched an investigation into Google in 2021.