European Commission penalizes tech giant under Digital Markets Act for self-preferencing search results and restricting app developers on Google Play.
BRUSSELS — The European Union has fined Google €890 million ($1 billion) for violating landmark digital competition regulations, penalizing the technology giant for steering consumers toward its own web services and restricting app developers on its Play Store.
The penalties, announced Thursday by the European Commission, mark the first formal fines issued against Google under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The enforcement action comprises two separate fines: €460 million for self-preferencing practices on Google Search and €430 million for anti-steering restrictions on Google Play.
According to European regulators, Google abused its market dominance by giving systematic preference to its own specialized search products—including shopping, hotels, transport, and sports results—over those offered by rival businesses. The commission also concluded that Google illegally prevented app developers from informing users about cheaper subscription offers outside the Google Play Store.
“Google has fallen short of effective compliance with the Digital Markets Act,” said Teresa Ribera, European Commission Executive Vice President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition. “The best products should succeed because they’re better, not because they’re owned by the company running the search engine. European consumers have a right to be told by app developers where to sign up to the best offers, even when the app store owner does not get a cut.”
Henna Virkkunen, European Executive Vice President for Tech Sovereignty, emphasized that the decision aims to protect European businesses from unfair displacement. “We found that Google harms businesses offering similar services by not granting them the same level of prominence on Google Search,” Virkkunen said.
Under the terms of the ruling, Google has been given 60 days to comply with DMA provisions or face periodic non-compliance penalties.
Google strongly criticized the regulatory decision, arguing that the enforcement damages user experience and undermines consumer security.
“This implementation of the DMA continues to break everyday products,” said Kent Walker, Google’s President of Global Affairs. Walker described the penalty as the outcome of “product degradation driven by a small group of self-serving complainants.”
Walker added that European regulations are forcing the platform to remove real-time features that users rely on—such as direct flight, hotel, and restaurant availability—while weakening safety protocols on Google Play.
The ruling comes amid heightened transatlantic trade friction. US officials expressed immediate dissatisfaction with the decision. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer cautioned that European regulatory actions risk destabilizing cross-border trade relations.
The European Commission designated Google parent company Alphabet as a digital “gatekeeper” in September 2023, requiring strict adherence to contestability standards across core platform services.
