The European Commission has announced it will issue US tech giant Google a €890 million fine for preferential treatment of its own services in its search and app store functions.
It found that the company has been favouring its own services on Google Search, while also blocking consumers from using alternative, often cheaper, purchase channels (e.g. other websites or mobile apps) when using the Google Play app store.
In this regard, the EU has issued Google fines of €460 million and €430 million, respectively, for the two breaches of the Digital Markets Act (DMA)
It comes after the Commission informed Google in March 2025 of its preliminary view that the company had breached EU law.
On Tuesday, European Commission Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition Teresa Ribera stated that Google had "fallen short" of its obligations in the EU.
"The best products should succeed because they're better, not because they're owned by the company running the search engine," said Ribera. "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."
The Spanish commissioner stressed that the DMA represents fairness, choice and innovation in digital markets for the benefit of all European citizens.
Preferential treatment
Under the DMA, digital gatekeepers like Google must not treat their own services more favourably in ranking than third-party services.
The Commission found that Google gives preferential treatment to its own services, including shopping, hotels, transport and sports results, over those of third parties in Google Search, thereby breaching its obligations under the DMA.
It found that the US company displays its own services more prominently in search results while similar third-party services do not have the same prominence.
Illustration picture shows a mobile phone and a laptop with the Google website, Monday 14 December 2020. Credit: Belga
This includes putting its own services at the top of the search results page or by using enhanced visuals and filters.
The EU stressed that app developers using Google Play were being denied the opportunity to freely inform customers of cheaper offers, while also not being directed to these offers on websites or alternative app stores.
While Google is allowed to receive a fee for facilitating an app developer’s new customer via Google Play, the level and period length of steering-related fees charged by Google went beyond what is considered compliant with the DMA, the European Commission stressed.
Google have now been ordered to treat third-party services appearing on Google's search results in a fair and non-discriminatory manner.
It will also be required to allow app developers on Google Play Store to freely communicate, promote offers and conclude contracts with users not only within but also outside the Google Play app store.
The Commission notes that, after a constructive dialogue, Google has proposed and started testing changes to how it presents its own services on Google Search for free services such as shopping, hotels and flights.
Over the past ten years, the Commission has imposed fines totalling more than €10 billion on Google for all kinds of violations of traditional competition laws on the European market.
These latest fines threaten to further fuel the Trump administration's fury over European regulations for tech giants.
When Google was separately fined in September last year, President Donald Trump threatened new import tariffs. This week, in a letter to the White House reported by Belga, 25 MPs asked for retaliation if the EU continues to persist with "discriminatory laws, policies or practices in the digital sector."
