Google's Big Move: Changing Ad Rules Without Selling

Google is in hot water with regulators on both sides of the pond. The European Union (EU) and the United States (US) are not happy with how Google handles ads. They say Google's control over ad tools and its ad exchange, AdX, is unfair. The EU even slapped Google with a huge fine of 2. 95 billion euros. They want Google to stop favoring its own services, which hurts competitors and others in the ad world. Google has come up with a plan. Instead of selling parts of its business, Google wants to make changes to its ad tools. They say their plan will fix the problems without causing a big mess. For example, Google will let publishers set different minimum prices for different bidders. This gives publishers more control. Google also wants to make its tools work better with others, giving advertisers and publishers more choices. But the EU might not be satisfied. They could still force Google to sell parts of its business if things don't change. This is similar to what happened with Microsoft a long time ago. The US is also pushing Google to sell AdX, but Google says that would be a disaster. They argue it would cause big problems for advertisers and publishers. The US case is now in court. If the judge sides with the US government, it could solve the problem for the EU as well. But for now, Google is hoping its plan will be enough to keep everyone happy.