EU Fines Google €890 Million for Abusing Search Dominance
The European Union on Thursday hit Google with a combined fine of €890 million (approximately $1 billion) for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA), marking the first major enforcement action against the tech giant under the bloc’s landmark competition regime. The penalty, announced by the European Commission, consists of two separate fines — €460 million for self-preferencing on Google Search and €430 million for anti-steering restrictions on Google Play.
The Digital Markets Act Takes Center Stage
The DMA, which came into full effect in 2024, designates large online platforms as “gatekeepers” that control consumer access to digital markets. It prohibits self-preferencing — where a company ranks its own services above those of competitors — and anti-steering practices that prevent app developers from directing consumers to alternative purchase channels. The European Commission found that Google breached both obligations.
According to the Commission, Google gives preferential treatment to its own services — including shopping, hotels, transport, and sports results — by displaying them more prominently in search results, often at the top of the page or with enhanced visuals, while similar third-party services do not receive the same prominence.
On Google Play, the Commission found that Google prevented app developers from freely informing customers about cheaper alternative purchase channels outside the app store. While Google can charge a fee for facilitating the initial acquisition of a new customer, the level and duration of its steering-related fees went beyond what is considered compliant under the DMA.
Record Penalty Under New Rules
The €890 million fine is the largest total penalty imposed under the DMA to date, surpassing the €500 million fine against Apple and the €200 million fine against Meta in 2025. The Commission has ordered Google to end the non-compliance within 60 days or face periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of its total worldwide daily turnover.
As AP News reported, Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, stated: “The best products should succeed because they’re better, not because they’re owned by the company running the search engine. And European consumers have a right to be told by app developers where to sign up to the best offers, even when the app store owner does not get a cut.”
Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, added that the decisions confirm the EU’s “determination to apply the Digital Markets Act to safeguard business and innovation.”
Google Fires Back
Google’s President of Global Affairs, Kent Walker, strongly criticized the decision, arguing that the DMA forces the company to degrade user experience. According to Al Jazeera, Walker said the EU forces Google “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.” He described the fine as “product degradation driven by a small group of self-serving complainants.”
A Long History of EU Antitrust Action
This latest penalty adds to Google’s lengthy history with European regulators. Between 2017 and 2019, the EU fined Google a total of €8.2 billion in three separate antitrust cases involving Google Shopping, Android, and AdSense. Just three weeks before this decision, Google lost its final appeal against a €4.1 billion EU antitrust fine related to Android, as Reuters reported. In September 2025, the EU also imposed a €2.95 billion fine on Google under separate antitrust rules.
Geopolitical Implications
The fine comes at a time of heightened tensions between the EU and the United States under President Donald Trump, who has threatened retaliation against European digital regulations. Some 25 U.S. Republican lawmakers recently urged the president to use trade tools against what they called the EU’s “discriminatory” digital rules. The EU and the U.S. agreed this year to address frictions through talks, but those negotiations have yet to begin.
Despite the political headwinds, the Commission remained firm. Ribera told reporters that the EU’s duty is to “ensure that the regulation that is being adopted by our sovereign institutions is fully enforced and respected,” noting that American authorities are “dealing with very similar approaches.”
What’s Next
Google can appeal the decision and request interim measures, including a suspension of the compliance order. The company has already begun testing changes to how it displays search results featuring its own services, which the Commission acknowledged as “substantial progress towards compliance.”
For European consumers, the ruling could mean more competitive search results and greater choice in how they purchase apps and subscriptions. For the broader tech industry, this enforcement action signals that the EU is prepared to use its new regulatory powers aggressively — and that the era of unfettered gatekeeper dominance in digital markets may be drawing to a close.
This article includes reporting from the Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and the European Commission.