Mexico’s antitrust regulator is expected to decide by June 17 whether Google built an illegal monopoly in the country’s digital advertising market.
The case could result in a fine of up to 8% of Google’s annual revenue in Mexico, according to public records.
The Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) began investigating Google Mexico in 2020 and moved to the trial phase in 2023. Google has since presented its defence. The agency held an oral hearing with Google on May 20, one of the final steps before a ruling.
Cofece requested Google’s financial data from Mexico’s tax authority during the investigation. While Google parent Alphabet does not report Mexico-specific revenue, its “other Americas” region, which includes Latin America, earned $20.4 billion in 2024.
If found guilty of monopolistic practices, Google could face one of the largest fines ever imposed by Cofece. Under Mexican law, the maximum penalty is 8% of a company’s yearly revenue for such violations.
A company can request an injunction to delay a Cofece ruling until a specialized court reviews the case. Neither Google nor Cofece has commented publicly.
Cofece previously fined a group of gas distributors $126 million in 2022 for price fixing. Lawmakers from Mexico’s ruling Morena party have been pressing the regulator to resolve Google’s case.
Separately, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum filed a suit against Google over renaming the Gulf of Mexico on Google Maps for U.S. users. The suit argues the company lacks authority to make such changes.
In the United States, Google is facing similar legal actions. A federal judge ruled last year that it holds an unlawful monopoly in search and online advertising.
U.S. regulators want the company to stop paying Apple and other firms to remain the default search engine and have called for parts of Google’s ad business to be sold.
