Dark times for Google, given that after the huge fine for the Android case that we talked about at the beginning of July, Brussels strikes again, and does so with an even wider target. The sanctions concern the very heart of the search engine and the digital shop that millions of Europeans use every day. The European Commission has adopted two non-compliance decisions against the Mountain View company within the framework of the Digital Markets Act, the law that since 2022 has been trying to keep the so-called digital “gatekeepers” at bay. The bill, this time, is 890 million euros.
Two fines, two separate charges
The first sanction, from 460 millionregard Google Search. According to Brussels, the giant would have given preferential treatment to its own services (shopping, hotels, transport, sports) compared to those of its competitors, showing them in more prominent positions, or with graphic elements and filters reserved only for home products. A practice that the DMA explicitly prohibits, because the so-called “gatekeepers” must apply transparent, fair and non-discriminatory ranking conditions, whatever the service in play.
The second fine, from 430 millioninstead affects the rules of Play Store. Here the crux is what the experts call anti-steeringi.e. the possibility for app developers to freely direct users towards alternative purchasing channels, perhaps cheaper, without having to pay disproportionate commissions to Google. The Commission, in the text of the decision, recognizes that Google may receive compensation for facilitating the initial acquisition of a customer, but notes that the size of the commissions and the duration of the charging period have exceeded what is deemed compatible with the law.
Sixty days, not one more
Google will now have to put an end to the violations found, and make every effort to ensure that there is, among other things, fair treatment for third-party services in search results, and freedom for developers to promote their offers even outside the Play Store. The deadline set is 60 days; if the company does not adapt, it is at risk periodic fines of up to 5% of total worldwide turnovera threshold which, it is worth remembering, would weigh on a group that generates annual revenues of hundreds of billions.
The Vice President of the Commission Teresa Ribera he spoke of “decisive but balanced” measures, underlining that the best products should prevail because they are better, not because they belong to the search engine managers. The Commissioner for Technological Sovereignty is along the same lines Henna Virkkunenaccording to which Google would have damaged competing companies by denying them equal visibility on Search and prevented developers from offering more advantageous offers to customers on the Play Store. However, Brussels recognizes that the company has already started testing some changes, both in the presentation of the free services on Search and in the addressing rules on Play, judging them as steps forward that it will continue to monitor. Finally, the most delicate chapter remains open, that of AI Overviews and AI Mode, on which the Commission has taken note of the company’s proposals without yet unraveling the knot.
Google’s reply
From Mountain View the reading is the opposite. Kent Walkerhead of global affairs for Google and Alphabet, said DMA enforcement “continues to harm everyday products,” forcing the company to remove popular real-time search features (from instant pricing to direct availability for hotels and flights) and dismantle security protections on Play. For Walker it would not be a question of fair competition, but of a degradation of the product imposed by a small group of complainants. The company has not yet lifted the reservation on the appeal: today’s decisions conclude the investigation opened on 25 March 2024, but can be appealed before European justice.
In the meantime, the story is intertwined with another dossier, that of commercial relations between Washington and Brussels, with the Trump administration having repeatedly accused the EU of targeting American big tech, threatening tariff retaliation. Google, for its part, remains the gatekeeper with the heaviest bill ever issued under the DMA, a record that places it ahead of Meta and Apple, fined in 2025 for 200 and 500 million euros respectively.
