European Commission fines Google €890 million over Digital Markets Act breaches

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EU fines Google over DMA

Highlights

European Commission fines Google a total of €890 million for Digital Markets Act breaches, with €460 million for search self-preferencing and €430 million for Google Play restrictions.
Commission finds Google’s search results unfairly favor its own shopping, hotel, transport and sports services, while Google Play restricts developers from promoting alternative purchase channels.
Google has begun testing changes to search and Play practices to address compliance, but the Commission will further assess these measures and Google may appeal the decisions.

Commission findings on search and app store practices

As reported by European Commission, the regulator adopts two non-compliance decisions against Google, imposing a €460 million fine over self-preferencing in Google Search and a €430 million fine over restrictions on app developers in Google Play.

Under the DMA, gatekeepers must not rank their own services more favorably than third-party offerings and must apply transparent, fair and non-discriminatory conditions. The Commission says Google gives its own shopping, hotel, transport and sports services more prominent placement in search results, including through top-page positioning, enhanced visuals and filters that comparable third-party services do not receive.

On Google Play, the Commission says app developers should be able to inform users free of charge about alternative and often cheaper purchase channels, including websites and other app stores. It finds Google prevents developers from freely promoting those offers and concluding contracts with users through distribution channels of their choice, while steering-related fees and the duration of those charges go beyond what is considered compliant with the DMA.

The Commission orders Google to end the non-compliance by treating third-party search services fairly relative to its own offerings and by allowing developers on Google Play, both technically and contractually, to communicate offers and conclude contracts with users inside and outside the app store.

Compliance timetable and broader regulatory impact

The Commission says Google has already proposed and started testing changes to the presentation of its own services in Search for free categories such as shopping, hotels and flights, and has also begun testing changes related to shopping ads and content services such as sports. The regulator is assessing those measures and says dialogue will continue, including on Google's proposals for AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Brussels also says Google has rolled out changes linked to its steering terms, which it views as progress toward compliance but will still assess under today's cease-and-desist order. The fines reflect the gravity and duration of the breaches, according to the Commission, which says the decisions follow a detailed investigation, feedback from market participants and extensive exchanges with Google.

Google was designated a gatekeeper for Google Search in September 2023. The Commission opened its non-compliance investigations on March 25, 2024, and told Google on March 19, 2025 that its preliminary view was that the company was breaching the DMA. Google may appeal today's decisions.

EU governments are advancing the appointment of Carlo Comporti as the next chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ahead of Verena Ross’s term ending on October 31. Our earlier coverage explained that, after backing from EU ambassadors, Comporti must face a European Parliament hearing and vote before ministers can finalize the decision—an important leadership change for the bloc’s securities regulator.

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