The European Commission has opened a new investigation into Google, this time focused on the company’s massive online advertising business, Bloomberg reports. European Union regulators already have Google was fined billions for violating the Digital Markets Act, and being found guilty of anticompetitive behavior in online advertising could add to that total.

While the Commission has yet to announce a formal investigation, Bloomberg wrote that it has begun contacting Google’s customers and competitors for information about its dominance in many online advertising markets. Regulators are particularly concerned that Google may be “artificially increasing the clearing price” of ad auctions “to the detriment of advertisers.” If the company is found to be in violation of EU competition rules, Google could be fined 10 percent of its global annual sales.

Google’s approach to advertising to minors has been reported is under investigation in the EU in December 2024, and apart from fines, there are regulators Controls the company to open up Android to competing AI assistants and share search data with rivals. In the US, there is also precedent for finding Google’s approach to online advertising anticompetitive.

A US federal judge found that Google was a monopolist in online advertising in April 2025, the end of a legal battle that began in a lawsuit by the Department of Justice accused the company of dominating the ad market and using its control to charge more and keep a larger share of ad sales. The DOJ ultimately wants Google to sell its ad tech business, however a final decision has not yet achieved how to fix the company’s anticompetitive behavior.