Over 8 billion fines are not enough! EU regulators may take action against Alphabet-C again, this time targeting the core business of advertising.

Despite having already issued fines of over $4 billion, EU regulators are preparing to take further action against Alphabet-C.

According to sources cited by the media on Monday, June 12, the European Commission will soon announce another charge of anti-competitive behavior against Alphabet-C, striking at the heart of its advertising technology business model. The fine that Alphabet-C will face is expected to be announced as early as this Wednesday.

This is expected to be the most significant charge of this term of the European Commission, marking a further escalation of the EU's anti-trust regulation against Alphabet-C.

According to financial reports, advertising is the most important source of revenue for Alphabet-C's parent company, Alphabet-C. In the first quarter of this year, Alphabet-C's advertising revenue fell slightly by 0.2% YoY to $54.55 billion, far less than the analyst's expected decline of 1.6%, accounting for about 78% of Alphabet's total revenue.

It is worth noting that the European Commission has already imposed three fines of over $1 billion on Alphabet-C in the past six years, totaling just over €8 billion, or about $8.6 billion.

In June 2017, the European Commission fined Alphabet-C €2.42 billion for illegally lowering the ranking of competitors in its shopping search service. In November 2021, the European General Court rejected Alphabet-C's appeal against the fine. In 2019, the European Commission fined Alphabet-C €1.49 billion for excluding competitors in the internet advertising service, and this case is still under appeal.

In 2018, the European Commission fined Alphabet-C €4.34 billion, or just over $5 billion, for monopolizing the Android system, the highest single fine ever imposed by the regulator. In September last year, Alphabet-C lost its appeal against the anti-trust case involving the Android system, and the European General Court upheld the European Commission's decision, while slightly reducing the fine to €4.1 billion. Alphabet-C is still appealing to the Supreme Court.

The EU's charge against Alphabet-C's digital advertising business for violating anti-trust laws is not surprising.

The EU began its anti-trust investigation into Alphabet-C's digital advertising business in June 2021, investigating how Alphabet-C may have prevented competitors from accessing user data for online advertising and how it may have prevented competitors from using its own data. In September last year, the European Commission's investigation was expanded after new evidence was submitted by the Portuguese competition regulator. In addition, the UK's competition regulatory body is also investigating Alphabet-C's advertising technology, and related litigation is underway in the United States.