EU fines Google €890M for breaching Big Tech rulebook - politico.eu

What the report says

POLITICO reported that the European Commission fined Google €890 million on Thursday after concluding two Digital Markets Act investigations, ordering the U.S. company to change both how it displays competing services in search and how it manages rules for developers in the Play Store. The decision makes Google the third major company to receive substantial penalties under the EU’s Big Tech regime, which is designed to speed up action against dominant online gatekeepers.

According to POLITICO, €460 million of the penalty relates to Google Search. Brussels found that Google favored its own shopping, hotel, transport and sports results over rival services. A further €430 million concerns the Android Play Store, where regulators said Google limited developers’ ability to direct users to cheaper options outside the store and imposed steering-related charges beyond what the law allows.

The Commission gave Google 60 days, until late September, to comply, with the possibility of additional daily penalties of up to 5 percent of parent company Alphabet’s worldwide daily turnover if it does not. EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said the action was intended to secure functioning markets rather than punish companies, and the Commission said Google has already begun testing some search display changes. Discussions continue on how the DMA applies to Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Google disputed the findings. POLITICO reported that Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, said the rulings would weaken useful search features and Play Store safety protections, and that the company is considering options including an appeal. The decision also comes amid U.S.-EU trade tensions, with Washington criticizing EU tech enforcement as targeting American firms.