In a few weeks, Meta Platforms will receive its first antitrust fine from the EU. The reason is the connection between the Marketplace ad service and Facebook. Reuters reports this with reference to informed sources.
The European Commission's decision will come more than a year and a half after it accused the company of giving its Facebook Marketplace service an unfair advantage by merging it with the social network.
The EU antitrust authority also claimed that the US giant abused its dominant position by unilaterally imposing unfair trading conditions on competing online ad services that advertise on Facebook or Instagram.
In total, Meta could be fined up to $13.4 billion, or 10% of its global revenue in 2023. The commission is likely to make a decision in September or October 2024. However, Reuters' interlocutors say that the timeline could still change.
Recently, it has also become known that the European Commission is opening proceedings against Meta for possible violation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), in particular, through the "pay or play" model.