On Thursday, Google became the third tech giant slapped with massive Digital Markets Act (DMA) fines, ordered to pay more than $1 billion for two serious violations that the European Commission (EC) found went unchecked for way too long.
In a press release, the EC explained that the fines were due to Google “self-preferencing its own services on Google Search” ($522 million) and for anti-steering practices, like charging fees or restricting app developers from directing consumers to cheaper purchase options outside of Google Play ($488 million).
Google has 60 days to make changes to its services, or else risk even more daily fines. To comply with the DMA, the EC has asked Google to “treat third-party services that feature on Google’s search results in a fair and non-discriminatory manner” compared to its own services in categories like shopping, hotels, and flights. And Google must also allow app developers, “both technically and contractually,” to freely sign up users and promote offers outside of Google Play.
Google can appeal the decision, and if it does, it may get backing from the Trump administration.
Ahead of the EC’s decision, 25 Republican lawmakers urged Donald Trump in a letter to retaliate against the anticipated Google fine by launching trade investigations. Such a move could threaten the European Union with tariffs or restrict the EU from accessing US tech, if any resulting probes confirm lawmakers’ fears that the EU plans to use the DMA as a “tool of economic extraction and regulatory coercion against American firms,” Reuters reported.
The letter may embolden Trump, who’s been threatening to impose more aggressive trade restrictions against the EU since last spring—when Apple and Meta together were first to get hit with more than $700 million in DMA fines. Lawmakers don’t even think that Apple and Meta should be labeled as gatekeepers under the DMA since popular Chinese firms like Temu and AliExpress aren’t bound by the same rules, the letter said.
“It is important to make clear that the EU’s access to the US market is not guaranteed and can be limited should the EU continue to pursue discriminatory acts, policies, and practices in the digital sector,” the letter said.
In response to the letter, the EC’s spokesperson Thomas Regnier told Reuters that “when it comes to our rules, the EU has the sovereign right to regulate economic activities on its territory.”
“This of course also applies to our digital regulation, where we will keep enforcing our rules in a fair and non-discriminatory manner—as we have always done,” Regnier said.
Seemingly, the EU is still hopeful that a diplomatic path will emerge allowing it to enforce the DMA without clashing with the Trump administration.
“We believe there is significant potential to deepen cooperation across a broad set of digital issues, including those identified in the EU-US Joint Statement, while respecting our regulatory autonomy,” Regnier said.
Risking even higher fines for delaying updates, Google does not appear to be depending on Trump quickly stepping in to block the fines.
The EC confirmed that Google has already “rolled out changes related to Google’s steering terms,” which the Commission said showed “good progress towards compliance.”
Additionally, Google has conducted testing on “changes to how it presents its own services on Google Search for free services such as shopping, hotels and flights,” as well as “changes to how it presents shopping ads and content related services, such as sports.”
The search giant has also said that it will voluntarily make changes to AI Overviews and AI Mode to similarly align with the EC’s expectations and avoid self-preferencing or anti-steering practices.
Ars could not immediately reach Google for comment, but its President of Global Affairs, Kent Walker, told Reuters that Google disagreed with the decision and is considering an appeal.
Although Google is cooperating with the EC, the company is clearly upset about required changes that it claims degrade its popular products just to satisfy “a small group of self-serving complainants.”
“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,” Walker said. “Regulation should improve products, not make them worse,” he added.
Since last September, Google has advocated for a “reset” of the DMA, warning that US tech giants face “considerable uncertainty and unpredictability” trying to comply. Google has maintained that the DMA currently favors “commercial interests of a small set of intermediary sites” and complying has already delayed some of Google’s AI features “by up to a year.”
However, the EC said the fines were “proportionate and appropriate,” following a “thorough investigation, including feedback from market participants, and extensive dialogue with Google.”
Among Google rivals celebrating the DMA ruling was Yelp. In a statement provided to Ars, Yelp’s vice president of public policy, David Segal, “applauded” the decision as finally ending Google’s enduring abuses, while accusing Google of degrading its own user experience by promoting its own products above others.
“When told to give equal footing to rivals in line with the DMA, a solution that fosters competition and benefits consumers, Google has instead consistently chosen to unilaterally degrade its own user experience by removing functionality, which is the telltale mark of a monopolist,” Segal said. “European consumers and businesses will reap the rewards of a more fair and open Internet as a result of meaningful enforcement of the DMA, and we are hopeful that the Commission will work to ensure Google comes into compliance and implements a search experience that truly focuses on the user.”
In the press release, Teresa Ribera, an EC member charged with keeping the EU on track with its goals with the DMA, defended the commission’s decision.
“The best products should succeed because they’re better, not because they’re owned by the company running the search engine,” Ribera said. “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. This is the promise of the DMA, protecting fairness, choice and innovation in digital markets for the benefit of all European citizens.”
