Google says Asian advertisers spending less due to Europe's customs changes
PLUS: Brake pedals break on Huawei-made cars; North Korea named as source of Binance hack; and more!
By The Register
Google has reported slower advertising growth after some Asia-Pacific customers reduced their spending following changes to European import rules.
Philipp Schindler, Google’s chief business officer, said during Alphabet’s third-quarter results call that some retail advertisers in the Asia-Pacific region had been affected by the European Union removing its “de minimis” exemption.
The exemption previously allowed goods worth less than €150 imported from outside the EU to enter without import duty. Under the new arrangements, the EU has introduced a temporary €3 customs charge for each qualifying consignment.
The changes affect large volumes of low-value goods sold by Chinese online retailers. Almost 5.9 billion such items were shipped to the EU in 2025, according to figures cited by The Register.
Temu, Shein and Alibaba are among the businesses associated with this type of cross-border retail. The changes are intended to protect European retailers from cheaper imports, but they have also affected the advertising budgets of some Asia-Pacific sellers.
Google and Meta are thought to receive a significant share of advertising revenue from Chinese e-commerce companies. The impact of the EU policy has therefore contributed to weaker growth in Google’s advertising business.
The report also highlighted two separate technology stories. A Huawei and JAC electric vehicle, the Maextro V800, reportedly suffered a broken brake-pedal bracket during testing by a Chinese automotive review site.
The test involved applying maximum braking force at 100 kilometres per hour to assess the vehicle’s ability to stop quickly.
In the cryptocurrency sector, billions of dollars in digital assets left Binance wallets on 29 October. Analysts at blockchain intelligence company TRM said the funds were transferred across several networks to addresses controlled by one attacker.
Binance initially attributed the incident to a compromised laptop, but later said it had identified additional points of breach while its investigation continued.