Big European publishers complain to EU over Google dominance in ads

The European Commission opened an investigation in June into whether Google favours its own online display advertising technology services to the detriment of rivals, advertisers and online publishers

Google has said its users want more privacy when they are browsing the web, including not being tracked across sites. Picture: AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File

Alphabet-owned Google became the target of a competition complaint by the European Publishers Council over its digital advertising business, which could potentially strengthen EU's Margrethe Vestager's investigation into the issue.

Google made $147bn (€130bn) in revenue from online ads in 2020, more than any other company in the world, with ads including search, YouTube and Gmail accounting for the bulk of its overall sales and profits.