# EU fines Google €2.95 billion over ad-tech practices, and Trump threatens retaliation
On event date 2025-09-05, the European Commission imposed a €2.95 billion fine on Google over its advertising technology business, escalating pressure on one of the world’s biggest tech companies even as it prepared to appeal.
The commission said Google abused its dominant position in ad-tech and harmed publishers, advertisers and consumers. EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said the behaviour was illegal under EU antitrust rules. The order also told Google to end what the commission called self-preferencing practices and to address conflicts of interest along the advertising supply chain.
Google rejected the decision and said it would appeal. The company described the fine as unjustified and argued that the required changes would hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to earn money. That response shows the company is preparing not just a legal challenge but a broader argument about the consequences for its customers.
The fine landed in a week already filled with regulatory pain for Google. The evidence package says a US federal jury ordered the company to pay $425 million over smartphone data collection, while France’s data protection authority also fined it €325 million over cookie rules. The European Commission’s decision was therefore part of a larger run of enforcement actions rather than an isolated event.
The politics were immediate. Donald Trump condemned the fine on his own social media platform, calling it discriminatory and warning that Europe was effectively taking money that would otherwise go to American jobs and investment. He also threatened fresh tariffs to “nullify” what he described as unfair penalties. That response adds a transatlantic trade dimension to what would otherwise be a straightforward competition case.
The evidence also notes that the European Commission had found Apple and Meta in breach of obligations under the Digital Markets Act earlier in the year, underlining how aggressive Brussels has become on digital market regulation. In that environment, the Google decision signals continuity rather than surprise.
For publishers and advertisers, the practical question is whether the ruling changes how the ad-tech chain works in Europe. The evidence says the commission wants Google to alter the conflicts built into that chain. For Google, the key issue is whether it can convince regulators and courts that the business model itself has not crossed the line.
The fine is large, but the political and commercial implications may be larger. It comes with an appeal, a presidential backlash and a fresh argument over who controls the rules for digital advertising in Europe.
