The European Commission has issued a google dma fine totaling €890 million after finding that Google broke the bloc’s Digital Markets Act in two separate ways: by favoring its own services in Search and by limiting how app developers point customers to other places to buy.
The Commission announced the decisions on 23 July 2026 through its competition and digital policy directorates. It fined Google €460 million for conduct tied to Google Search and €430 million for conduct tied to Google Play. It also ordered Google to end the non-compliance.
The DMA imposes specific duties on gatekeepers, the companies covered by the law. For ranking, the Commission said those companies must not give their own services better treatment than rival services and must apply transparent, fair and non-discriminatory conditions.
Why did the EU fine Google under the DMA?
On Search, the Commission said Google promoted its own vertical services, including shopping, hotels, transport and sports results, over third-party services. According to the Commission, Google did that by placing its own services more visibly in results, including at the top of the page, and by using richer presentation formats such as enhanced visuals and filters.
The problem, in the Commission’s view, is not that Google operates those services. The DMA issue is preferential placement. The Commission said comparable third-party services did not receive the same prominence in Google Search.
That is the self-preferencing case: Google controls the ranking environment and also competes inside it. The Commission’s decision says the company used that position in a way the DMA forbids.
What did the Commission say about Google Play?
The second decision concerns anti-steering rules. Under the DMA, the Commission said app developers using Google Play must be able to tell customers, free of charge, about alternative offers, which may be cheaper, and direct them to those offers. Those alternatives can include websites or other app stores.
The Commission found that Google did not meet that obligation. It said Google restricted app developers from freely communicating offers, promoting them and concluding contracts with users through distribution channels chosen by the developers, including third-party app stores.
The Commission also addressed Google’s fees. It said Google may charge a fee for helping an app developer acquire a new customer through Google Play. But it found that the level of Google’s steering-related fees, and the length of time those fees applied, exceeded what the DMA permits.
What happens next?
The Commission said Google must bring both violations to an end. The announcement did not set out Google’s response, any appeal plans or a specific compliance timetable.
The case is another test of how the DMA works in practice. The Commission is not just looking at whether a platform technically allows rivals or developers to exist somewhere in the system. It is looking at ranking, placement, user routing and payment rules, the boring machinery where platform power usually hides.
This story draws on original reporting from Digital Markets Act (DMA).
