EU Readies Record DMA Fine Against Google Over Search Self-Preferencing
The European Commission is finalizing a "high triple-digit million euro" penalty against Google for favoring its own shopping, flight, and hotel services in Search — the largest fine ever under the Digital Markets Act, expected before the EU's summer break.
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Brussels reaches for the DMA's biggest hammer yet
The European Commission is finalizing what would be the largest fine ever levied under the Digital Markets Act, targeting Alphabet's Google for ranking its own shopping, flight, and hotel services above rival comparison platforms in Search.techtimes The penalty, reported by Germany's Handelsblatt and confirmed by Reuters, falls in the "high triple-digit million euro" range and is expected to be announced before the Commission's summer recess in late July.mashable +1 The final call reportedly rests with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen herself.mashable
The case stems from an investigation, formally launched in March 2025, into concerns that Google favors its own services in search results.reuters Preliminary findings concluded that Google Search breached the DMA's requirement for "transparent, fair and non-discriminatory" treatment of third parties, and that Google Play unlawfully prevents developers from steering users toward cheaper options elsewhere.techtimes +1
A fine engineered for compliance, not maximum pain
Brussels has framed the penalty as a tool to force behavioral change rather than a windfall. "Even with our negotiations on future solutions, we will not hesitate to move to the next steps as soon as possible," Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said.reuters The DMA permits fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover for a first violation — a ceiling that would expose Alphabet to more than $35 billion — making the figure under consideration a deliberate fraction of the maximum.techtimes The Commission gave Google extra time earlier this month to strengthen its remedy proposals, but those offers fell short.mashable +1
The fine would eclipse every prior DMA penalty. So far only Apple and Meta have been sanctioned under the law, with Apple's €500 million the previous high.siliconrepublic Google has signaled it will fight any adverse ruling at the EU's General Court, a process that typically runs for years.techtimes
A second-rate experience, or a long-overdue reckoning
Google insists the changes already forced on it have backfired. "The changes we've already made to Search under the DMA represent the biggest downgrade in the product's history, creating a second-rate experience for Europeans to the benefit of a few self-interested complainants," a company spokesperson said.mashable +1
The dispute is the latest chapter in a 15-year clash that has already cost Google more than €11 billion in EU competition fines, including a €2.95 billion adtech penalty in September 2025.techtimes Brussels has since opened fresh probes into whether Google demotes news publishers and whether its use of web content to train AI products — including the Gemini-powered AI Overviews — disadvantages rivals.siliconrepublic For the dozens of publishers and travel platforms that pressed von der Leyen for action, the looming fine is the first concrete signal that the DMA's teeth are real.techtimes