France: Google fined 220 mn euros for abuse of market power in ad business

PARIS (Reuters) - The French antitrust authority said on Monday it had handed down a 220 million euro ($267 million) fine to Alphabet's Google for abusing its market power in the online advertising business.

The watchdog said the sanction was the first of its kind in the world and that it had reached a settlement with the U.S. firm under which Google agreed to end some of its self-preferencing practices in the intricate automated online advertising business.

 

($1 = 0.8226 euros)

 

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain, Editing by Sarah White)