EU launches new antitrust probe into Google's search-ad pricing

Brussels has opened a formal investigation into how Google sets prices for advertisements served through its search platform, focusing on whether contractual terms or engineering choices steer advertisers toward higher costs or limit competitive supply. Regulators will probe auction mechanics, contract clauses, and any preferential treatment that could influence bidding behaviour and clearing prices. The inquiry is proceeding alongside separate EU enforcement threads — notably demands under the Digital Markets Act for parity and release of anonymized search interaction data, and a formal complaint from news publishers over AI-generated summaries that repurpose journalism without negotiated licensing. Those parallel actions increase the range of potential remedies regulators might consider, from behavioural commitments to technical interoperability and data-sharing obligations. For advertisers and publishers, the combined scrutiny raises the prospect of greater transparency in ad-auction processes and potential new access to telemetry or auction data that could lower barriers for rival demand sources. For Google, the probe heightens legal, compliance and engineering risk: investigators may request documents, run technical audits of auction logic and seek explanations of how product design influences market outcomes. Ad-tech competitors stand to benefit if regulators require interoperability or mandate access to anonymized datasets that help alternative engines and bidders compete. The case is part of a broader EU strategy to pair traditional antitrust tools with the Digital Markets Act’s enforcement levers, meaning remedies could include both fines and binding technical or data-access remedies. Proving harm will require granular analysis of causal links between platform design, advertiser choices and price outcomes — an inquiry likely to draw on economic, engineering and product evidence. Market participants should expect an extended information‑gathering phase before any formal charges, and should prepare for compliance demands that could reshape auction mechanics and partner agreements. The outcome may also influence how other jurisdictions regulate algorithmic pricing and the use of publisher content in AI features, potentially setting cross-border precedents.