On Thursday, the EU fined Google a total of 890 million euros for violating competition in online search and the Google Play app store, risking a new crisis in relations with Washington.
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The total amount represents the highest sanction Brussels has imposed against a company under the European Digital Markets Regulation (DMA), a powerful European law aimed at combating abuses of dominance by tech giants.
In detail, Google was fined 460 million euros for favoring its own services in Google Search results.
Added to this is a second fine of 430 million euros for preventing developers using the Play Store from redirecting customers to other virtual points of sale.
“This is a very important decision,” said Commission vice-president for digital technology Henna Virkkunen, stressing that it aims to “ensure a level playing field” for all online businesses.
The American technology giant, for its part, criticized this decision, which, in its opinion, will lead to a deterioration in the quality of services popular with Internet users.
“To comply, we are forced to remove the real-time search features that Europeans love, such as instant pricing and direct availability of hotels, flights and restaurants, as well as dismantling Google Play’s protections,” protested Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, in a statement sent to AFP.
The new sanction risks deepening anger in Washington against European digital rules, which the Trump administration accuses of unfairly targeting American leaders in the sector.
As a result, 25 Republican lawmakers this week wrote to Donald Trump asking him to retaliate against the EU if it continues to implement “discriminatory laws, policies or practices in the digital sector,” particularly through the DMA, in a letter seen by AFP.
“We have a responsibility to ensure that the laws adopted by our sovereign institutions are fully implemented and respected,” insisted Teresa Ribera, responsible for competition issues at the Commission.
“Product degradation”
Following an investigation launched in 2024, Brussels concluded that Google gave preference to its own flight or hotel price comparison services in its search engine to the detriment of its competitors.
In addition, the European Commission accuses Google of using “anti-steering” on Google Play. A practice prohibited by the DMA of preventing developers from promoting other app stores.
A group that has already proposed or introduced measures to attempt to comply with the DMA will be required to comply with the decision within 60 days, under penalty of additional penalties.
Google disputes these findings. The group ensures its enhanced search results meet the demand of internet users and criticizes the way the DMA is implemented in Brussels.
“This is unfair competition, this is the degradation of products dictated by a small group of applicants motivated by their own interests, to the detriment of European businesses and consumers,” said Kent Walker, adding that “regulation should improve products, not make them worse.”
As for changes mandated at the Play Store level, they will create a security risk because they will weaken Google’s control.
Previously, Brussels had already imposed sanctions against Apple and Meta under the DMA, but for smaller amounts (500 and 200 million euros, respectively).
It’s the latest setback for Google, which has seen unfavorable decisions pile up in Europe.
Last week, Brussels required it to open its Android operating system to artificial intelligence services, competitors of its Gemini assistant, and to share the data collected by Google Search with its rivals.
And in September last year, the Commission imposed a fine of 2.95 billion euros on it for abusing its dominant position in online advertising.
Finally, Brussels has been investigating the treatment of news sites on Google Search since December.