Google hit with $1 billion EU fine over search, play store breaches — here's why
Alphabet Inc.’s Google was fined a total of €890 million ($1 billion) by the European Union for violating the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, in a
Alphabet Inc.’s Google was fined a total of €890 million ($1 billion) by the European Union for violating the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, in a decision that risks further inflaming tensions with US President Donald Trump. The European Commission said Thursday that Google had unfairly favored its own search services and prevented app developers from steering consumers to offers outside its Play Store. The company was fined €460 million for the alleged search abuses and €430 million for the Play Store breaches. What did EU competition chief say? “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,” EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said. “The best products should succeed because they’re better, not because they’re owned by the company running the search engine.” Also Read | Google makes switching from iPhone to Android easier with Android 17 The commission gave the US Big Tech giant 60 days to comply with the Digital Markets Act, or face the threat of future periodic penalties.
“This implementation of the DMA continues to break everyday products,” Kent Walker, Google’s President of Global Affairs, said. “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.” The latest Google sanction follows penalties of €500 million and €200 million against Apple Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. respectively under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act — a law that lays out a raft guardrails aimed at keeping Big Tech dominance in check. The decisions push Google’s EU liabilities to over €10 billion — far higher than fines against Apple, Meta and Microsoft Corp. Also Read | Google Pixel 11 series all colous leaked ahead of launch: Check expected specs But Thursday’s €890 million fine ranks among Brussels’ smallest against Google.
It follows a €2.95 billion penalty for abuses on Google’s adtech arm last year, a €4.125 billion Android fine and a €2.42 billion sanction for crushing shopping search rivals. A €1.49 billion AdSense levy was annulled by the EU General Court, but is being appealed to the bloc’s highest chamber by EU lawyers. Google’s search dominance in particular has long been where EU regulators have focused their attention. In a 2017 decision that came with a €2.4 billion fine, the Brussels-based executive alleged the US firm illegally leveraged its search-engine dominance to give a higher ranking to its own product listings, in an escalation that came to be dubbed the Google Shopping case. EU regulators now fear that similar behavior from Google is thwarting its compliance with the DMA. Also Read | Google Pixel 11a key specs leaked ahead of Made by Google event The EU punishment comes at a tense moment for EU–US trade relations, with Trump having repeatedly criticized the bloc’s efforts to rein in Silicon Valley giants.
The BriefWire