Google's plan to fix antitrust violations through technical changes -- rather than splitting up its ad operations -- sets up a showdown with Brussels over whether behavioral remedies are enough to restore competition.
BRUSSELS (CN) -- Google sent Brussels a plan Friday to overhaul its advertising technology business through product changes and increased interoperability -- rejecting outright the EU's demands that it break up its ad operations.
The proposal comes in response to a Sept. 5 decision where the European Commission -- the European Union's enforcement arm -- hit Google with a 2.95 billion-euro ($3.2 billion) fine and concluded the company's dominance in ad tech stemmed from an "inherent conflict of interest" in controlling huge chunks of the infrastructure that powers online advertising.
Google was given 60 days to tell Brussels how it would end illegal self-preferencing and put measures in place to halt conflicts of interest in the ad tech supply chain, where the company controls both sides of transactions using its Google Ads, Ad Manager and AdX platforms.
European regulators accused Google of systematically favoring its own services over rivals in the digital advertising market, distorting competition and harming competitors, advertisers and publishers across the bloc.
The commission took the unusual step of signaling that only a structural breakup could fix Google's market distortions, though it said it would first review any remedies Google proposed. Brussels confirmed Friday it received Google's compliance plan and will now analyze whether it effectively addresses the violations.
"This remains our position at this point," commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta said of the potential for Brussels ordering a breakup of Google in the future. She added that if Google's proposal is insufficient, the commission "will then proceed to impose an appropriate remedy."
Google's response notably skips any asset sales or business divestiture, instead offering what it calls "immediate product changes" alongside longer-term technical fixes.
"Our proposal fully addresses the EC's decision without a disruptive breakup that would harm the thousands of European publishers and advertisers who use Google tools to grow their business," a Google spokesperson said in a statement Friday.
The company said it will let publishers set different minimum prices for different bidders when using Google Ad Manager -- one of several changes aimed at addressing competition concerns without restructuring the business.
Google, which accounts for most revenue at Alphabet Inc. -- the $3.4 trillion internet giant based in Mountain View, California -- also pledged to boost interoperability of its ad tech tools to give publishers and advertisers more choice and flexibility.
The company said it disagrees with the commission's September antitrust finding and will appeal.
"It doesn't reflect today's highly competitive and rapidly evolving ad tech sector," Google said of the decision.
The filing comes just one day after Brussels opened yet another investigation into Google -- this time examining whether the company is burying news publishers in search results for running ads alongside their content. That probe falls under the Digital Markets Act, a European law that kicked in last year forcing Big Tech platforms to give businesses fair access to their services.
The back-to-back regulatory actions highlight escalating tensions between Brussels and the Silicon Valley giant, which has faced over 9.5 billion euros in EU fines since 2017 across multiple antitrust cases.
News publishers on both sides of the Atlantic have long complained they face limited alternatives to Google for managing their advertising-dependent businesses, ultimately driving up costs for an already struggling industry.
Both the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice launched parallel antitrust investigations into Google's control over the technical infrastructure of online advertising in the early 2020s.
Google's European proposal largely mirrors the approach it took in U.S. federal court, where the Justice Department brought a separate ad tech case. A Virginia judge ruled in April that Google had formed an illegal monopoly in its advertising technology business, and remedies proceedings to determine penalties -- potentially including a forced breakup -- are underway.
Legal experts note the commission faces a high legal bar for imposing structural remedies and has never previously ordered a company breakup. With a U.S. court already finding Google liable for monopolistic conduct in ad tech, any forced divestiture appears more likely to originate from U.S. proceedings than from Brussels.
The review comes as Washington ramps up pressure on Brussels over European enforcement actions targeting U.S. tech companies. President Donald Trump slammed the commission's September decision to penalize Google, threatening retaliatory tariffs in a post on Truth Social shortly after the ruling was announced.
European regulators don't have to meet a set deadline for assessing Google's proposal, but a commission spokesperson said Brussels is "aware that a swift change in the market is necessary" and is "committed to carrying out the assessment as a matter of priority."
In its statement, Google said, "We are committed to finding an effective solution that provides certainty and consistency for our customers across Europe, the United States and globally."
Courthouse News correspondent Yuval Molina is based in Brussels, Belgium.