EU slaps Google with €890M fine, orders changes to search rankings and Play Store

The European Commission has issued two fines against Google for infringing the Digital Markets Act (DMA), totaling €890 million.

For starters, the EU’s executive arm found that Google gives preferential treatment to its own services, such as shopping, hotels, transport, and sports results, in Google Search.

This constitutes a violation of the DMA, because it dictates that gatekeepers aren’t allowed to favor their own services over third-party services. Instead, they have to be transparent, fair, and non-discriminatory in ranking their search results.

However, according to the European Commission, Google displays its own services more prominently on its search engine result pages by using enhanced visuals and filters. For this, Google was issued a fine of €460 million.

Secondly, Google prevents app developers from freely communicating with customers to inform them of alternative offers, and to direct them to those offers to make a purchase. The Commission imposed a fine of €430 million, which makes a total of €890 million in fines.

“Google has fallen short of effective compliance with the Digital Markets Act, and today we have taken decisive yet balanced enforcement action sanctioning these breaches,” Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, said in a statement.

“Today’s decisions send a clear message: we will not hesitate to use our tools to safeguard business and innovation opportunities opened up by the DMA,” Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, adds.

In response, Kent Walker, President of Global Affairs at Google, criticized the European Commission’s decision.

“To comply, we are having to strip away real-time Search features Europeans love, like instant pricing and direct availability for hotels, flights, ‌and restaurants, ⁠and dismantle safety protections on Google Play. This isn’t fair competition; it’s product degradation driven by a small group of self-serving complainants, with European businesses and consumers taking the hit. Regulation should improve products, not make them worse,” Walker said in a statement to Reuters.

Google has 60 days to make changes so the search engine mogul no longer favors its own services in Google Search, and to allow app developers to freely communicate with their customers over promotional offers.

If Google refuses, the company risks additional penalty payments, which can go as high as 5% of Google’s global annual turnover.