The European Union has fined Google’s parent company Alphabet €890 million (approximately $1 billion) for two separate violations of the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). One penalty targets Google for giving its own services preferential treatment in search results, while the other addresses restrictions on Android developers directing users to alternative payment options.
A €460 million fine was issued for Google giving preferential treatment to its own Shopping, Hotels, and Flights services in Google Search results. The second €430 million penalty addresses Play Store rules that prevented developers from freely steering customers to different payment systems that could be more affordable.
As part of the ruling, Google has been given 60 days to make changes to its policies or face additional periodic penalty payments. In Search, the company must treat third-party services “in a fair and non-discriminatory manner.” On Android, Google must allow developers to freely promote offers to users both inside and outside the Play Store.
Background and response
The fines were announced by the European Commission today, more than two years after it first opened a non-compliance investigation. They follow a preliminary ruling in March 2025. Google was given time to address the EU’s concerns, with an extension granted in May 2026 after the Commission said a previous proposal from the company “is simply not strong enough.”
Google made and tested several changes to its Search services to comply with DMA rules, including removing the Google Flights widget for EU Search users and boosting links to third-party comparison sites through an updated search result design. The company has previously pushed back on the EU’s criticisms of its Search product, telling Reuters that changes it made “represent the biggest downgrade in the product’s history, creating a second-rate experience for Europeans to the benefit of a few complainants.”
Google was previously hit with a €2.42 billion fine in 2017 for a similar breach of EU antitrust rules, after it was found to have given its comparison shopping service an illegal advantage over rivals.
Play Store consequences
Regarding the Play Store, Google has repeatedly objected to requirements that it open up app distribution on Android, claiming it poses a security risk to users. The company reiterated these objections following the Commission’s preliminary finding, arguing that “the DMA is making it difficult to protect users from scams and malicious links on Android by forcing us to remove our long-standing safeguards.”
However, Google updated specific terms following consultations with the European Commission and other experts, revising costs and restrictions on Android developers. The Commission says these changes “constitute good progress towards compliance.”
Google also faces a reckoning over its Play Store policies in the US after Epic Games successfully sued the company over in-app purchase fees, which could force Google to carry rival Android app stores within its own store.
What the DMA means
The DMA targets the largest “gatekeeper” companies that provide core digital services in Europe, requiring them to act fairly and not stifle competitors by abusing their market dominance. The maximum fine for breaching DMA rules is 10% of the company’s global annual revenue—approximately $40 billion in Google’s case, based on the $400 billion it reported for 2025.
European Commission Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera stated: “The best products should succeed because they’re better, not because they’re owned by the company running the search engine. And European customers have a right to learn from app developers where to get the best offers, even when the app store owner doesn’t get a cut. That is the promise of the DMA.”
