In an ongoing effort to stave off an EU crackdown, Google is offering to open up its YouTube Ads platform to rivals.
Google is under increased scrutiny in the US and the EU over its dominance in the ad market. Several bills and legislative efforts are being put forward to limit a company of Google’s size from dominating the entire advertising chain, something that Google currently does. In an effort to prevent the worst of the fallout, Google is now offering to open its YouTube Ads platform to rivals, according to Reuters.
In particular, the EU’s competition watchdog raised concerns over Google requiring advertisers to use its own Ad Manager, rather than any competing platform, to place ads on YouTube. According to Reuters’ sources, Google has been discussing potential solutions with the Commission since last year in an effort to keep from being fined up to 10% of its global revenue.
While the YouTube concession is a good start, sources familiar with the matter said the company will need to do more to secure a deal, an unsurprising stipulation given that YouTube is only one part of Google’s vast advertising business.
