The European Union has fined Google a combined €890 million (£760 million) after finding the technology giant breached the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) through its search engine and app store practices.
The European Commission announced that Google unfairly favoured its own products and services in search results while also restricting app developers from directing users to cheaper alternatives outside its app marketplace.
Under the ruling, Google received a €460 million fine for giving preferential treatment to its own services—including shopping, hotel and travel listings—over competing platforms in search results.
A further €430 million penalty was imposed over the company’s app store policies, which regulators said prevented developers from informing customers about lower-priced offers available through their own websites or alternative app stores.
The Commission has ordered Google to ensure that third-party services appearing in its search engine are treated in a fair and non-discriminatory manner. It also directed the company to allow app developers greater freedom to communicate directly with users about offers available outside Google’s app ecosystem.
EU officials acknowledged that Google has already begun testing changes to the way it displays specialised search results, including shopping and flight services. According to the Commission, those modifications represent significant progress towards complying with the Digital Markets Act, although regulators concluded they were not sufficient to avoid financial penalties.
European officials said consumers are expected to benefit from the decision through increased competition and more impartial search results, with users likely to notice changes in how Google presents information within the European Union.
The decision comes at a sensitive time for transatlantic relations, arriving just hours before the expiration of temporary U.S. tariffs affecting dozens of countries. However, EU officials rejected suggestions that the timing of the ruling was politically motivated, stressing that the bloc has the sovereign authority to enforce its competition laws on companies operating within its market, regardless of where they are headquartered.
Google has the right to appeal the decision through the European courts and may also seek interim measures, including a request to suspend enforcement while the legal challenge is considered.
The latest penalties represent one of the European Union’s most significant enforcement actions under the Digital Markets Act, reinforcing the bloc’s efforts to curb the market power of major technology companies and promote greater competition in digital markets.
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