Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 12, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 12, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThe EU is probing Google's search ad auctions for potential price manipulation, impacting advertisers across Europe.
By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Alphabet unit Google risks another EU antitrust headache as regulators said they are concerned that the U.S. tech giant may be unfairly driving online advertising prices higher, a letter to advertisers seen by Reuters showed.
Google, which has been fined billions of euros in Europe for antitrust violations in recent years, is the subject of several European Union antitrust investigations.
Another could add to tensions with the U.S. government, which says U.S. Big Tech has been unfairly targeted, claims which the European Commission has dismissed.
The Commission singled out the auctions for the sale of advertising on Google Search, "in particular, the way in which Google has been artificially increasing the clearing price of such auctions to the detriment of advertisers," the letter said.
Google, which dominates the multi-billion-dollar online advertising market, said Google Search ads help small businesses to compete with the biggest brands and keep the web free for everyone.
"Ad prices are determined by a real-time auction designed to show people the most relevant ads, taking into account factors like advertiser competition and ad quality," a Google spokesperson said.
A Commission spokesperson declined to comment, saying there is no formal investigation on the matter.
"In general, the Commission monitors possible anti-competitive market practices and abusive conduct in all sectors and stands ready to investigate cases where concrete evidence thereof is found," the spokesperson said.
Recipients of the letter were given until March 2 to provide feedback.
The U.S. Justice Department has accused Google of manipulating online auctions with formulas to favour its own bottom line.
Bloomberg was the first to report the potential EU investigation.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, additional reporting by Anhata Rooprai; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Barbara Lewis)
Search advertising is a form of online advertising where businesses pay to have their ads displayed on search engine results pages when users search for specific keywords.
The clearing price is the price at which the quantity of a good supplied equals the quantity demanded, often used in auction markets to determine the final sale price.
The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, and upholding EU treaties.
Potential implications for advertisers may include increased costs, changes in bidding strategies, and adjustments in advertising budgets due to regulatory scrutiny and market dynamics.
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