BRUSSELS — Google’s parent company, Alphabet, was handed a pair of fines totaling €890 million — roughly $1 billion — on Thursday after European Union regulators determined the tech giant had violated rules designed to limit the outsized power of major technology companies.
The European Commission issued two separate penalties against Google. The first, worth €460 million, was tied to Google’s practice of promoting its own services — including shopping, hotels, transportation, and sports — over competitors in its search results. The second fine, totaling €430 million, addressed restrictions Google placed on its app store, Google Play, which prevented app developers from directing users to cheaper deals available through other platforms or websites.
These are the first penalties Google has faced under the Digital Markets Act, though they represent the fifth and sixth times the company has been fined for anti-competitive behavior overall. Combined with earlier penalties, Google has now accumulated a total of €10.38 billion in fines over nearly two decades.
EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera addressed questions about pushback from the United States, stating: “Our duty and obligation is to comply with the laws, that our laws are fully respected.”
EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen added: “The DMA is to make sure we have a fair and level playing field. With these decisions we want to make sure there is competition.”
Google pushed back strongly against the EU’s findings and indicated it may challenge the Commission’s rulings in court. Kent Walker, Google’s President of Global Affairs, argued that complying with the orders would actually harm European users.
“To comply, we are having 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,” Walker said.
“This isn’t fair competition; it’s product degradation driven by a small group of self-serving complainants, with European businesses and consumers taking the hit. Regulation should improve products, not make them worse,” he continued.
Despite the fines, EU regulators indicated that ongoing daily penalties for non-compliance are unlikely, citing what they described as a “constructive dialogue” with Google and meaningful steps the company has already taken.
The Commission noted that Google has begun testing changes to how it displays its own services in search results for categories like shopping, hotels, and flights. Regulators also said Google’s proposed adjustments to its app store steering policies represent good progress and will continue to be evaluated.
Additionally, the Commission said Google may need to apply the principles behind Thursday’s ruling to its AI-generated search summaries, known as AI Overviews and AI Mode, with further discussions planned on that front.
Google has 60 days to bring its practices into compliance with the Commission’s orders, which require the company to treat competitors fairly and allow app developers to point users toward alternatives outside of Google Play.
The fines are the third issued under the Digital Markets Act, following penalties previously levied against Apple and Meta Platforms in April of last year.
The EU’s ongoing crackdown on large technology firms has drawn criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, which has threatened retaliatory tariffs, characterizing the European enforcement actions as unfairly targeting American companies. U.S. lawmakers have also applied pressure over the matter.
