Google offered to sell advertising marketplace AdX

Alphabet’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.

Google AdX is a real-time bidding (RTB) advertising platform that’s like a digital auction house for ad space. Publishers offer their ad inventory, and advertisers bid on it. The highest bidder gets the ad slot. It’s a win-win for everyone: publishers get more money for their ads, and advertisers reach their target audience more effectively.

One of the cool things about AdX is that it uses advanced targeting options. Advertisers can specify exactly who they want to see their ads, based on factors like demographics, interests, and even past behavior. This means that ads are more relevant to users, leading to higher engagement and better results for both publishers and advertisers.