Google has been fined a total of €890 million by the European Union for breaching rules designed to limit the power of major technology companies, although regulators signalled that further financial penalties may be avoided if the company continues making progress towards compliance.
The European Commission issued a €460 million fine under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) after finding that Google had favoured its own services in search results covering areas including shopping, hotels, transport and sports.
A second penalty of €430 million targeted Google Play. Regulators said the app store restricted developers from directing users to cheaper offers on rival app stores or websites without charge.
The penalties are Google’s first under the DMA and the fifth and sixth EU fines against the company for anti-competitive practices. The total value of penalties imposed on Google by the EU over almost two decades has now reached €10.38 billion.
The Commission said the fines reflected Europe’s determination to ensure that major technology companies do not use their market power to disadvantage competitors.
“Our duty and obligation is to comply with the laws, that our laws are fully respected,” EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera told reporters.
EU technology chief Henna Virkkunen said the DMA was intended to create a fairer market and strengthen competition.
Google has 60 days to comply with the Commission’s orders to treat rival services fairly and allow app developers to direct users away from Google Play.
The company criticised the findings and said it could challenge the decisions in court.
Google President of Global Affairs Kent Walker said the company was being forced to remove features from Search and weaken protections on Google Play to comply with the EU rules.
He argued that the changes could reduce the quality of products available to European users and businesses.
The Commission said, however, that Google had made significant progress in addressing regulators’ concerns. It pointed to proposed changes to the way Google displays its own services in Search, including shopping, hotel and flight results.
Google has also begun testing changes affecting shopping advertisements and sports-related content, according to the Commission.
The regulator said the company could apply the same principles to its AI-generated Search features, including AI Overviews and AI Mode, with discussions continuing.
Google’s proposed changes to its app store steering rules also received an initial positive assessment from EU officials.
The Commission’s comments suggest that daily penalties for continued non-compliance may not be immediately necessary.
The EU’s technology crackdown has drawn criticism from US President Donald Trump’s administration, which has accused Europe of unfairly targeting American companies and threatened possible trade retaliation.
The Google penalties follow earlier DMA fines against Apple and Meta Platforms, adding to the EU’s wider campaign to increase competition in the digital economy.
