Competition economics - Google fined €220m in France over advertising abuse

The French competition authorities have fined Google 220 million Euros for abusing their market position in the market for online advertising.

They found that Google's ad management platform favoured its own online ad marketplace, and as a result of access to data, this meant it operated in an anti-competitive fashion.

With over 90% revenue from advertising alone, the Google search engine is technically an ad agency - the world's biggest!

Google will not be contesting the decision and claims it will change its practices globally.

This is a good example to add to your study notes on aspects of digital monopolies and the practical application of competition policy.