The European Commission has fined Google a combined €890 million, approximately $1 billion, for breaching European Union rules intended to promote fair competition and restrict the market power of major technology companies.
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The penalties followed two separate findings that Google unlawfully favoured its services over competing businesses in search results and restricted app developers from directing users to alternative and potentially cheaper purchasing channels outside Google Play.
Under the first decision, the Commission imposed a €460 million fine after concluding that Google gave preferential treatment to its shopping, hotel, transport and sports services on Google Search.
EU regulators said Google displayed its services more prominently, including at the top of search-result pages and through enhanced graphics, filters and other features that were not equally available to competing providers.
The Commission maintained that the arrangement placed rival businesses at a competitive disadvantage because users were more likely to interact with Google’s prominently displayed services than with comparable options offered by third parties.
The Digital Markets Act prohibits companies classified as “gatekeepers” from ranking their products or services more favourably than similar services belonging to their competitors. It also requires transparent, fair and non-discriminatory ranking conditions.
The second penalty of €430 million related to restrictions imposed on app developers distributing their products through Google Play.
Under EU rules, developers must be allowed to inform customers, without additional charges, about alternative offers and direct them to websites or other app stores where they may complete purchases at lower prices.
The Commission found that Google prevented developers from freely communicating and promoting such alternatives and from concluding transactions with users through distribution channels of their choice.
Although the EU acknowledged that Google could charge a fee for facilitating the initial acquisition of a customer through Google Play, it concluded that the level of Google’s related fees and the period during which they were imposed exceeded what was permitted under the Digital Markets Act.
The Commission consequently ordered Google to end both violations and comply with its obligation to treat competing services fairly and allow developers to direct customers to alternative purchasing channels.
Google was given 60 days to comply with the decisions. The Commission said it would continue to assess changes being tested by the technology company before determining whether further enforcement measures would be necessary.
European Commission Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, said the decisions were intended to create fairer opportunities for businesses competing with Google.
She said the Commission’s investigation established that rival shopping, hotel, transport and sports providers were not receiving the same level of visibility as Google’s services.
Virkkunen also said app developers were being prevented from freely directing customers to more affordable offers available outside Google Play.
EU competition chief Teresa Ribera maintained that European laws must be respected regardless of criticism or political pressure from outside the bloc.
She said the Digital Markets Act was designed to ensure that powerful technology companies did not use control of major digital platforms to prevent competitors from reaching consumers.
Google, however, rejected the Commission’s conclusions and warned that the required changes could reduce the quality of services available to European consumers.
Google’s President of Global Affairs, Kent Walker, argued that the Commission’s approach would force the company to remove real-time search features relating to hotel, flight and restaurant prices and availability.
He also claimed that the changes demanded in relation to Google Play could weaken safety protections for users.
The company said the decisions appeared to favour a limited number of complainants at the expense of European consumers and businesses and indicated that it could challenge the fines before the courts.
Despite the disagreement, the Commission said it remained engaged in constructive discussions with Google and acknowledged that the company had begun testing changes to how it presented shopping, hotel, flight and sports services in search results.
Google has also proposed changes to the rules governing how app developers communicate alternative offers to users on Google Play.
The Commission said the proposed adjustments represented progress but would still be assessed against the requirements contained in the two decisions.
The fines came one week after the European Commission issued Google two sets of binding measures relating to artificial intelligence services on Android devices and access to search data.
Under those measures, Google must provide competing AI services with access to Android features comparable to the access enjoyed by its Gemini service.
The company is also required to share anonymised search information with eligible third-party search engines, including AI chatbots offering search functions, on fair and non-discriminatory terms.
The EU said the measures were intended to encourage alternatives to Google Search and Gemini and provide consumers with a wider choice of search engines and artificial intelligence services.
The €890 million penalties are Google’s first fines under the Digital Markets Act, although the company has previously received several multibillion-euro sanctions under traditional EU competition laws.
The latest decisions form part of the European Union’s broader effort to limit the control of major technology companies over search engines, app stores, advertising platforms, artificial intelligence services and other essential parts of the digital economy.
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