Google has been fined €890 million by the European Commission for favouring its own services in search results and preventing app developers from steering customers towards cheaper alternatives, the first penalty issued against the company under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act.
The decision, announced on Thursday, splits into two findings of non-compliance. A €460 million fine covers self-preferencing on Google Search, where the Commission found the company gave systematic preferential treatment to its own shopping, hotels, transport and sports results over those of third parties. A further €430 million relates to restrictions imposed on businesses using Google Play, preventing them from directing consumers to alternative and often cheaper purchase channels.
Sixty days to change or pay daily
More consequential than the sum itself is the order attached to it. Google has 60 days to end both practices or face periodic penalty payments of up to 5 per cent of its worldwide turnover.
“Google must now bring the non-compliance to an end and to refrain from continuing it in the future,” said Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, adding that the decisions send a clear message that Brussels will not hesitate to use its tools to protect the opportunities the Digital Markets Act was designed to create.
The Commission opened the investigations in March 2024, six months after designating Google a ‘gatekeeper’ under the legislation, and set out its preliminary findings in March 2025. It noted that Google has already begun testing changes to how it presents its own services, describing them as substantial progress towards compliance, and confirmed that discussions are continuing over how the ruling’s principles will apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode.
Google calls it product degradation
The company’s response was combative. “This isn’t fair competition; it’s product degradation driven by a small group of self-serving complainants, with European businesses and consumers taking the hit. Regulation should improve products, not make them worse,” said Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs.
Google argues that altering its search results would harm European travel businesses that depend on it for bookings, and that pushing users towards third-party sites introduces security risks. It has not said whether it intends to appeal.
Awkward timing across the Atlantic
The fine arrives at a delicate moment. Washington has repeatedly characterised the EU’s digital rules as a trade irritant, and the Trump administration is weighing a fresh round of duties as the current regime expires this week, following a Section 301 investigation touching on German drug pricing.
Brussels has shown before that it is not immune to that pressure. A separate fine over Google’s advertising business was shelved last September amid internal opposition led by trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, who argued against sensitive sanctions before a deal with Washington was concluded. The Commission eventually proceeded, imposing a €2.95 billion penalty — but the episode exposed how exposed its enforcement had become to outside politics.
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