Google Agrees to Change Online Ad Model After French Fines

Google agreed to change its online advertising model after France’s Competition Authority recently fined Google €220 million for overstepping its dominant position in the market and leveraging its vertical integration in online advertising. This is the first time Google has been challenged in this regard.

On this episode of MarketScale TV, host Courtney Echerd talked with Colin Pape, Founder of Presearch, a decentralized search engine created as an alternative to more prominent engines. The duo discussed what this means for search engines, both big and small, how Google’s practices might change, and whether decentralized internet usage will be part of the solution.

Google currently has a significant hold on the market when it comes to online advertising. The numbers speak for themselves, according to Pape, with Google raking in more than $100 billion in ad revenue with an unprecedented market monopoly within the online space.

“Google obviously has tentacles that run deep,” Pape said. “They’ve got the number one search engine, the number one video platform with YouTube, number one map and email platform, and it all ties together around the number one advertising platform that reaches into all these different properties and extends out to all the other publishers through the AdSense network.”

The way Google has everything integrated gives them a significant advantage, as they are the basic default on most of these platforms. It makes it difficult for other platforms to compete, Pape said, as it takes multiple steps to use different platforms, while Google’s is just one click away. Currently, ten states have accused Google of manipulating its tools to favor its own online and stifle competition.

Listen to hear more about Google’s recent fines and how Pape is working to redefine search engine operations through Presearch.

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