The European Commission announced two fines under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) against Google, one for Google Search and the other for Google Play. The total fine comes out to €890 million, which is just over $1 billion in US dollars.
Google Search fine. The EU fined Google €460 million over its anti-competitive practices with Google Search. The commission wrote:
- “The Commission found that Google gives preferential treatment to its own services, including shopping, hotels, transport and sports results, over those of third parties in Google Search, thereby breaching its obligations under the DMA.”
- “Google displays its own services more prominently in search results, including at the top of the search results page or by using enhanced visuals and filters, while similar third-party services do not have the same prominence.”
The EU Commission told Google it is required to “Treat third-party services that feature on Google’s search results in a fair and non-discriminatory manner by reference to its own services.”
Google Play fine. The EU fined Google €430 million over its anti-competitive practices with Google Play. The Commission wrote:
- “The Commission found that Google failed to comply with that obligation.”
- “In particular, Google prevents app developers from freely communicating and promoting offers and concluding contracts with users in distribution channels of their choice, including third-party app stores.”
- “While Google can receive a fee for facilitating the initial acquisition of a new customer by an app developer via Google Play, the level of the steering-related fees charged by Google and the length of the charging period for these fees went beyond what is considered compliant with the DMA.”
The EU Commission told Google it is required to “Allow app developers distributing their apps via Google Play Store, both technically and contractually, to freely communicate, promote offers and conclude contracts with users not only within but also outside the Google Play app store.”
Required next steps. The EU Commission is requiring Google “to comply with the Commission’s decisions within 60 days, otherwise it risks periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of its total worldwide turnover.” It also expects to engage with Google to ensure compliance with its decisions and the DMA more generally.
Why we care. This decision will likely result in Google having to make more changes to Google Search, especially within European regions. We have to imagine Google will try to appeal this, if they can. The changes that come to search will be interesting to follow over time.
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