EU opens antitrust probe into Google’s massive advertising business

The European Union opened a formal antitrust probe into Google’s lucrative advertising business, signaling it will scrutinize whether the search giant is abusing its increasingly outsize market power.

The European Commission, the legislative branch of the EU that is overseeing the investigation, said Tuesday is considering whether Google has broken EU rules by favoring its own online advertising services over competitors. It’s also probing if Google is “distorting competition” by restricting third-party access to user data for advertising while keeping such data for its own use.  “We are concerned that Google has made it harder for rival online advertising services to compete,” European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.