Google: ‘Not fair competition’
The fines are the biggest in total against one company under the competition law known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), after the EU slapped penalties of 200 million and 500 million euros against Meta and Apple respectively in 2025.
The DMA came into effect in 2024 and seeks to rein in what the EU views as Big Tech’s excesses in a bid to ensure fair competition in the digital realm.
The fines against Google have been expected for months as part of a probe that began in 2024, but Brussels has faced claims of delaying the move over fears of hurting ties with Washington.
The EU can slap fines of up to 10 percent of a company’s total global turnover for breaching the DMA.
A second EU official said the fines were worth 0.22 percent of Google’s turnover.
The fines could rise further if Google fails to comply within 60 days, the Commission said, threatening it with “periodic penalty payments”.
“The best products should succeed because they’re better, not because they’re owned by the company running the search engine,” EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement.
Google hit out at Brussels, saying the EU forced the company to degrade products in the bloc.
Google’s head of global affairs Kent Walker said the company was being forced to “strip away real-time Search features Europeans love — like instant pricing and direct availability for hotels, flights, and restaurants — and dismantle safety protections on Google Play”.
“This isn’t fair competition,” he added.