The European Commission (EC) on Thursday found Google to be non-compliant with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and issued two fines totaling €890 million.
Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen commented that the decision sent a clear message: “We will not hesitate to use our tools to safeguard business and innovation opportunities opened up by the DMA.”
The DMA came into force in November 2022, and regulates the EU’s digital markets. The DMA aims to ensure that digital markets are contestable and fair by regulating “gatekeepers”, or large digital platforms such as online search engines and app stores. Google was designated as a “gatekeeper” in 2023, and the EC opened an investigation into its suspected non-compliance in 2024.
The EC found that Google was “self-preferencing,” or giving “preferential treatment to its own services, including shopping,” “hotels” and “transport,” over third parties.
Further, the EC found that Google was “anti-steering.” The DMA provides that developers are allowed to “inform customers —free of charge—of alternative” offers and direct them to such. However, the EC stated that Google failed to comply with this obligation, and prevented “app developers from freely communicating and promoting offers.”
The EC ordered Google to cease and desist its DMA non-compliant activities, and to ensure that third party services are displayed in search results fairly without self-preferential treatment, and to allow app developers to freely distribute their apps and communicate with users within and outside its app store.
Google indicated to the EC that it will work to implement changes as to how it presents its own services, “shopping ads”, and “content related services”. It issues two fines, totaling €460 million, and €430 million respectively. The EC stated that it will continue monitoring Google as to how the company implements the changes and complies with the DMA.
This latest development is part of a broader string of measures by the EC to clamp down on giant tech companies such as Meta and Apple to dismantle anti-competitive gatekeeper monopolies and make the EU Single Market fairer for all, especially smaller companies.
