Donald Trump considers the fine imposed by Brussels on Google "very unfair."

WASHAINGTON - US President Donald Trump on Friday called the €2.95 billion (about $3.457 billion) fine the European Commission (EC) imposed on Google for online advertising abuses "very unfair" and warned that his administration would not allow sanctions against the US company .

“This is in addition to the many other fines and taxes that have been levied against Google and other American tech companies, in particular. Very unfair, and the American taxpayer will not tolerate it! As I have said before, my Administration will NOT allow these discriminatory actions to continue!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, after learning of the news.

The president denounced that these sanctions take money away from the company that "would otherwise go to investments and jobs in the United States."

The European Commission (EC) on Friday fined the multinational Google 2.95 billion euros (about 3.465 billion dollars) for abusing its dominant position in online advertising , by favoring its own services in this sector to the detriment of its rivals, and gave it 60 days to put an end to these practices , the institution reported in a statement.

The fine is the second-highest ever imposed by the EU executive for monopolistic abuses , behind the fine of more than 4 billion euros, also imposed on Google for violating EU competition rules through Android.

The European institution had planned to announce this fine at the beginning of this week, but the process was halted, according to the specialized media MLex, following the intervention of Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic , who has been the bloc's negotiator with the US authorities during the tariff war.

Furthermore, the sanction was made public just three days after a US judge ruled that Google could keep its popular Chrome search engine, but prohibited it from signing exclusivity contracts that obligate users to use that browser.

The European Commission has imposed a fine of €2.95 billion on Google over abusive online advertising practices. https://t.co/KOkKOHb3gE

— DW News (@dwnews) September 5, 2025

In addition to fining the company, Brussels has demanded that Google end behavior that favors its own advertising technology services and take "measures to eradicate its inherent conflicts of interest throughout the advertising technology ('adtech') supply chain."

"The decision shows that Google abused its dominant position in adtech, harming publishers, advertisers, and consumers. This behavior is illegal under EU competition rules, and Google must now implement serious remedies to address its conflicts of interest," said European Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribera , who heads the Competition portfolio.

The Spanish company also warned the technology company that Brussels "will not hesitate to impose" serious corrections on Google if the company, which has 60 days to communicate the measures, refuses to correct its behavior.

Although the institution wants to "listen to and analyze the proposal" it expects from the technology company, its analysis suggests that "only Google's divestment of some of its services would resolve the conflicts of interest."

The digital giant has already announced that it will appeal the fine before the European Court of Justice, as it has done with other fines such as the one cited for Android (pending a ruling), the 2.424 billion euro fine for ' Google Shopping ' (endorsed by the judges), or the 1.490 billion euro fine for ' AdSense ' (cancelled at first instance, although Brussels has appealed).

“(The Commission) is imposing an unjustified fine and requiring concessions that will harm thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money,” Lee-Anne Mulholland , the company’s vice president and global head of regulatory affairs , said in a statement.

In this regard, he added that "there is nothing anti-competitive about providing services to advertising buyers and sellers, and there are more alternatives to our services than ever before."

Google will appeal the €2.59 billion fine imposed by Brussels, the second largest in a competition case https://t.co/1UbggUN7TW

— Europa Press (@europapress) September 5, 2025

Brussels launched its investigation into the online advertising business in 2021 and confirmed two years later that the multinational's practices in this sector were contrary to EU law.

The European authorities concluded at that time that the only way out was for Google to sell part of this business .

Google offers services in this sector with two purchasing tools for advertisers (Google Ads and DV 360), another for publishers to manage their advertising spaces (DoubleClick for Publishers or DFP), and a platform that connects both parts of the business, AdX.

The Brussels investigation concluded that Google has abused its dominant position in these markets since "at least" 2014 to favor its AdX platform in advertising auctions organized by DFP, informing it, for example, of the value of the highest bid a competitor had made and which it had to beat to win the contract.

AdX also enjoyed a competitive advantage over the buying tools Google Ads and DV 360: the former primarily offered deals made on Google's platform, making AdX the "more attractive" option.

The “deliberate” goal of this conduct was to give AdX a “competitive advantage” that reinforced its “central role” in the advertising technology business, as well as “Google’s ability to charge high prices for its advertising service.”

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