Turkey fines Google $8.9M for breaching antitrust commitments
What's the story
Google has been slapped with a fine of 355 million Turkish lira ($8.9 million) by the Turkish Competition Authority (TCA). The fine originates from a probe into competition in local search services for accommodation pricing. Google failed to comply with commitments made in a previous antitrust investigation. The TCA accused the search giant of intentionally introducing changes that violate obligations set during the compliance process, thereby strengthening its dominance in the search and advertising markets.
Ongoing scrutiny
Fine not related to probe into Google's Performance Max tool
The latest fine is related to previous commitments Google failed to meet, not part of a separate antitrust investigation that was launched by the TCA last month. That probe focused on Google's Performance Max (PMAX) tool, which uses user data and AI to optimize ad placements across various Google platforms such as email, search, and YouTube. This isn't the first time Google has run afoul of Turkey's competition enforcers.
Past penalties
Google also fined $75 million in Turkey last year
In December 2024, Google was fined 2.61 billion Turkish lira ($75 million) for restricting third-party access to YouTube ad inventory. This was after a previous fine of 482 million Turkish lira over hotel search results. The tech giant's troubles in the travel industry aren't limited to Turkey either. Just recently, it failed to reach an agreement with a group of travel websites on search rankings during talks hosted by the European Commission.
Publisher complaints
Publishers have filed antitrust complaint against Google in EU
Separately, a group of publishers has filed an antitrust complaint against Google in the European Union. The complaint centers around Google's AI Overviews feature, which summarizes information from websites based on search queries before providing links to those sites. The publishers allege that this practice is harming them by causing loss of traffic, readership, and revenue.
US challenges
In the US, courts are considering breaking up Google
In the US, two federal courts have ruled that Google has illegal monopolies over search and the online advertising ecosystem. These cases were filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The courts are now considering whether to force Google to divest key parts of its empire, including the Chrome browser and pieces of its ad-tech stack.