Google Fined €890 Million by EU Over Digital Markets Act Violations
Alphabet’s Google has been fined a total of €890 million ($1 billion) by the European Commission for violating the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The penalties target Google’s search and app store practices, marking the company’s first fines under the landmark legislation. However, EU regulators signalled that additional penalties are unlikely for now, citing the company’s progress towards compliance.
The decision reinforces the European Union’s efforts to curb the market power of major technology companies despite criticism from the United States and concerns over potential trade tensions.
EU Imposes Two Separate Fines
The European Commission issued two fines against Google under the Digital Markets Act.
The first penalty, worth €460 million, relates to Google’s search business. Regulators said the company unfairly favoured its own services in shopping, hotels, transport and sports search results instead of treating competing services equally.
The second fine, amounting to €430 million, concerns Google Play. According to the Commission, Google restricted app developers from directing users, free of charge, to cheaper offers available through competing app stores or external websites.
These are Google’s fifth and sixth penalties for anti-competitive practices in Europe over nearly two decades, bringing its total EU competition fines to €10.38 billion.
Google Criticises the Decision
The European Commission has given Google 60 days to comply with its orders. The company must treat rival services fairly in search results and allow app developers greater freedom to guide users towards alternative purchasing options.
Google criticised the Commission’s findings and indicated that it may challenge the decision in court.
Kent Walker, Google’s President of Global Affairs, argued that the company is being forced to remove popular search features used by European consumers, including real-time hotel, flight and restaurant pricing. He also said the changes would weaken safety protections within Google Play.
According to Walker, the Commission’s decision would result in product degradation rather than fair competition.
EU Defends Digital Markets Act Enforcement
EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera said the Commission has a duty to ensure that European laws are respected and properly enforced.
Meanwhile, EU technology chief Henna Virkkunen said the Digital Markets Act is designed to create a fair and level playing field for businesses by preventing dominant technology companies from disadvantaging competitors.
The latest enforcement action comes despite criticism from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which has argued that European regulations disproportionately target American technology companies.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the fines and other EU actions create uncertainty for U.S. exports to Europe and claimed the bloc continues to focus on America’s most competitive companies.
Regulators See Progress Towards Compliance
Despite the financial penalties, the European Commission acknowledged what it described as a constructive dialogue with Google.
Regulators said the company has proposed and begun testing changes to the way it displays its own services within Google Search, including shopping, hotel, flight and sports-related results.
The Commission also noted that discussions continue regarding Google’s AI-generated search features, including AI Overviews and AI Mode, with the possibility that the principles outlined in Thursday’s decision could also apply to those products.
In addition, regulators gave a cautious endorsement to Google’s proposed changes to its Google Play steering rules, describing them as meaningful progress towards compliance.
As a result, the Commission suggested that daily non-compliance penalties are unlikely at this stage, provided Google continues implementing the required changes.
The latest sanctions are the third set of fines issued under the Digital Markets Act following penalties imposed on Apple and Meta Platforms in April last year.
With inputs from Reuters
