Exclusive-Google offered to sell advertising marketplace AdX in EU antitrust probe, sources say

BRUSSELS/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s Google earlier this year offered to sell its advertising marketplace AdX to allay EU competition concerns over its adtech practices but the proposal got short shrift from European publishers, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The European Commission last year charged Google with favouring its own advertising services, opening its fourth case against the world’s most popular search engine and targeting a highly lucrative business.

Publishers want Google to divest more than just AdX to address conflicts of interest due to its presence in almost all levels of the adtech supply chain, the people said.