VOA慢速英语2021 谷歌在法国被罚2.68亿美元并同意改革其广告系统（在线收听）

Google has agreed to make changes to its online advertising business in a settlement with the French government.

谷歌与法国政府达成和解，同意对其线上广告业务作出改革。

The agreement, announced Monday, requires Google to pay a $268 million fine for abusing its "dominant position" in the online advertising market.

周一宣布的这份协议要求谷歌支付2.68亿美元的罚款，原因是谷歌滥用其在线上广告市场的主导地位。

The French Competition Authority said it had found that Google's ad management system for large publishers favored its own online ad marketplace, AdX, over competitors. AdX is a tool used by publishers to sell advertising space.

法国竞争管理局表示，它发现谷歌面向大型出版商的广告管理系统更偏爱自己的在线广告市场ADX，而不是其竞争对手。ADX是发布商用于销售广告位的工具。

French officials said AdX is built to work more effectively with the service Google Ad Manager than with other ad placement providers.

法国官员表示，与其它广告展示位置提供商相比，ADX旨在与谷歌广告管理服务更有效合作。

Google did not dispute the findings and said it had agreed to make changes to its advertising business as part of the settlement.

谷歌对调查结果没有异议，并表示作为和解协议的一部分，已经同意对其广告业务进行调整。

The company promised to improve the way its Ad Manager services work with competing online advertising systems. It also said it had agreed to make it easier for publishers to use its data and tools. A company statement said Google "will be testing and developing these changes over the coming months" before launching them widely.

该公司承诺改进其广告管理服务与竞争性线上广告系统的协作方式。该公司还表示已同意让发布商更容易使用其数据和工具。该公司发布的一份声明表示，谷歌将在将在未来几个月内对这些调整进行测试和开发，然后再大范围推出。

The head of the French Competition Authority, Isabelle de Silva, said it was "the first decision in the world" to center on Google's complex ad serving system. The system uses algorithms to decide which ads users are shown.

法国竞争管理局局长伊莎贝尔·德席尔瓦表示，这是全球首个聚焦谷歌复杂广告服务系统的裁决。该系统使用算法来决定向用户展示哪些广告。

Google's ad systems had hurt competition in the online marketplace and permitted the company "not only to maintain, but also to increase its dominant position," de Silva said.

德席尔瓦表示，谷歌的广告系统损害了网络市场的竞争，并让该公司不仅保持，还提升了其主导地位。

The settlement "will make it possible to re-establish a level playing field for all players, and the ability for publishers to make the most of their advertising space," de Silva added.

德席尔瓦还表示，和解协议将使得为所有玩家打造一个公平的竞争环境成为可能，并使发布商能够充分利用其广告位。

The investigation began after three media groups -- U.S.-based News Corp., French newspaper group Le Figaro and Belgium press group Rossel -- launched a complaint against Google in 2019.

该调查是2019年美国新闻集团、法国费加罗报业集团和比利时罗塞尔报业集团对谷歌发起投诉之后展开的。

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire welcomed the decision. He said Google systems that help its own ad technologies hurt press groups that depend heavily on online adverting income. "These are serious practices and they have been rightly sanctioned," Le Maire said.

法国财政部长布鲁诺·勒梅尔对该决定表示欢迎。他说，谷歌系统帮助自身广告技术，这伤害了严重依赖线上广告收入的报业集团。勒梅尔表示：“这些做法都非常严重，它们受到了正确的制裁。”

Major technology companies have been facing increasing attention in Europe and other places over their business methods. Germany also launched an investigation of Google.

大型科技公司因为其商业模式在欧洲等地受到越来越多的关注。德国也对谷歌展开了调查。

The German government said last week it was examining whether contracts for news publishers using a Google licensing system included "unreasonable conditions."

德国政府上周表示，它正在审查使用谷歌许可系统的新闻出版商的合同是否包含不合理条件。

The European Union has accused Apple of blocking competition in online music sales. It also has accused Amazon of using information from independent businesses to unfairly compete against them with its own products. In addition to that, the EU is looking into Google's advertising systems and methods.

欧盟指责苹果在网络音乐销售方面阻止竞争。它还指责亚马逊使用来自于独立企业的信息，用自身产品与他们不公平竞争。除此之外，欧盟也在研究谷歌的广告系统和广告方式。