The Google DMA fine announced Thursday puts more than $1 billion in new pressure on Alphabet’s search and app store business in Europe. The European Commission said Google violated the Digital Markets Act by favoring its own services in Google Search and by limiting how app developers could point users to offers outside Google Play.
The Commission set two penalties: $522 million for Search self-preferencing and $488 million for Google Play anti-steering practices. Google has 60 days to change the affected services. If it does not, the company could face additional daily fines, according to the Commission.
What is the Google DMA fine about?
The Digital Markets Act is the EU’s rulebook for large online “gatekeepers,” meant to stop dominant platforms from using control over one market to tilt another. In Google’s case, the Commission said the company gave its own shopping, hotel and flight services an unfair advantage in Search results, while rival services did not get equal treatment.
The app store violation concerns steering. The Commission said Google restricted or charged app developers when they directed users to cheaper ways to buy or subscribe outside Google Play. Under the order, Google must let developers, both through contracts and product design, promote outside offers and sign up users without being boxed in by Play’s payment rules.
Commission member Teresa Ribera defended the decision, saying products should win because they are better, not because they belong to the company operating the search engine. She also said European consumers should be able to hear from app developers about better offers even when an app store owner does not receive a cut.
What changes must Google make?
The Commission told Google to treat third-party services appearing in Search in a fair and non-discriminatory way compared with Google’s own services. That applies to areas including shopping, hotels and flights.
Google has already made changes to its Play steering terms, and the Commission described that work as progress toward compliance. The company has also tested changes to how Search displays Google’s own free services, including shopping, hotels and flights, as well as shopping ads and content-related services such as sports.
Google has also said it will voluntarily adjust AI Overviews and AI Mode to meet the Commission’s expectations on self-preferencing and anti-steering. That is not exactly a victory lap. It is a company changing the product while still arguing that the referee is wrong.
Why is Trump involved?
Reuters reported that 25 Republican lawmakers urged President Donald Trump, before the Commission’s decision, to retaliate against the expected Google penalty by opening trade investigations. Such probes could lead to tariffs or limits on EU access to U.S. technology if they supported the lawmakers’ claim that the DMA is being used against American companies.
The lawmakers’ letter also challenged the DMA’s treatment of Apple and Meta, which were fined more than $700 million combined earlier under the law. The letter argued that those companies should not be treated as gatekeepers while Chinese firms such as Temu and AliExpress are not covered by the same obligations.
European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told Reuters that the EU has “the sovereign right to regulate economic activities on its territory.” He said that applies to digital rules and that the Commission would keep enforcing them in a fair and non-discriminatory way.
How did Google and rivals respond?
Google’s president of global affairs, Kent Walker, told Reuters that the company disagrees with the decision and is considering an appeal. Walker said compliance forces Google to remove real-time Search features used for hotels, flights and restaurants and to dismantle Google Play safety protections. He argued that regulation should improve products rather than worsen them.
Google has previously called for a reset of the DMA, saying the law creates uncertainty for U.S. technology companies and favors a small set of intermediary sites. The company has also said DMA compliance delayed some AI features by up to a year.
Yelp welcomed the ruling. David Segal, Yelp’s vice president of public policy, said Google has chosen to degrade its own user experience when told to give rivals equal footing. He said European consumers and businesses would benefit if the Commission makes Google comply with the DMA.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.
