Google nears settlement of French antitrust case: Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON: Alphabet's Google is nearing a settlement of an antitrust case in France over allegations it abused its power in online advertising, and will likely pay a fine and institute operational changes, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday (May 27), citing people familiar with the matter.

The French Competition Authority has said that Google's tool to sell space to advertisers, which publishers use, gave Google's online ad auction tool, which advertisers use, an advantage, the people told the newspaper.

Google offered to settle the matter by removing obstacles that it puts up against competitors, the newspaper reported.

The French case also alleged other forms of self-preferencing in the advertising side of Google's business, the people told the newspaper.

Google spokeswoman Leslie Pitterson did not comment on the reported settlement but said that the company's third-party ad tech products work with both Google's partners' and competitors' products.

"We continue to take in feedback and make updates to better serve users and the wider ecosystem," she said in a statement.

If approved by the Competition Authority's board, the deal could be announced in weeks, the newspaper said. Any agreement reached with France would be binding only in France, the newspaper said.

Texas, backed by other US states, filed a lawsuit against Google in December accusing it of breaking antitrust law in how it runs its online advertising business in a case that appears to be similar to the French allegations.