According to those familiar with the situation, Google’s profitable digital advertising business could face its largest regulatory danger yet, with EU antitrust officials preparing to start a formal inquiry into the company before the end of the year.

It would be the EU’s competition enforcer’s first major move against Google. It fined Google about 8 billion euros ($9.8 billion) (approximately Rs. 72,661 crores) in the last decade for preventing competitors in online commerce, Android devices, and online advertising.One of the persons said an EU investigation would focus on Google’s position in relation to advertising, publishers, intermediaries, and competitors, implying a more thorough investigation than the French antitrust agency’s inquiry, which ended last week.Last year, Google made more money from online ads than any other firm in the world, bringing in $147 billion (approximately Rs. 10.8 lakh crores). The majority of sales and profits came from ads on its sites, which included search, YouTube, and Gmail.

The display or network sector, in which other media firms use Google technology to sell advertisements on their websites and applications, accounted for about 16 percent of income.Both units are being attacked. Last year, the US Justice Department sued Google, along with some states, for exploiting its dominance in search marketing. In a later action, a group of states led by Texas focused on anti-competitive behaviour on the network side of the home.As part of a settlement reached days later, France agreed to pay Google $268 million (roughly Rs. 1,987 crores) and make various commitments over similar allegations related to the network business. The unit must also work closely with Britain’s competition regulator on upcoming software changes.

The Commission did not respond to a request for comment. A request for comment from Google was not immediately returned.A new EU investigation could end up focusing on Google’s whole advertising enterprise. According to market research firm eMarketer, Google will dominate 27% of worldwide online ad spending this year, including 57% of search advertisements and 10% of display ads.

While the numbers may not appear to be monopolistic at first glance, advertisers and competitors argue that Google’s varied software is involved in so many aspects of the industry that it is hard to ignore the firm.They claim Google takes advantage of buyers’, sellers’, and intermediaries’ reliance on it to extort exorbitant fees from all parties and prevent competitors from competing fairly with it.The EU watchdog inquired if advertisers receive rebates when they use Google intermediaries, which allow advertisers or media agencies to acquire advertising inventory from a variety of sources, in a questionnaire issued to Google rivals and third parties earlier this year and obtained by Reuters.

According to Thomas Hoppner, a lawyer at law firm Hausfeld who represents multiple Google complainants, the Commission should finish current cases before commencing new ones.”From a practitioner’s and industry’s perspective, it looks equally crucial to conclude investigations into local search and Google’s job search at a time when other authorities are investigating Google’s adtech,” he said.