By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, July 23 (Reuters) – Alphabet’s Google was fined a total of €890 million ($1 billion) on Thursday for flouting European Union rules aimed at reining in the power of Big Tech, the European Commission said.
However, the U.S. tech giant is likely to avoid fresh fines as EU regulators lauded good progress in its ongoing efforts to comply with the landmark legislation.
The fines underscored Europe’s determination to prevent Big Tech companies from thwarting rivals, defying U.S. criticism and retaliatory tariff threats.
One fine of €460 million was handed out to Google by the European Commission under the Digital Markets Act for favouring its own services in shopping, hotels, transport and sports results in search results.
A second fine of €430 million targeted Google’s restrictions on its app store Google Play preventing app developers from steering users free of charge to cheaper offers on rival app stores or websites.
Reuters was the first to report on both fines, which are the first for the U.S. tech giant under the DMA but the fifth and sixth overall for anti-competitive practices, making for total penalties of €10.38 billion over nearly two decades.
“Our duty and obligation is to comply with the laws, that our laws are fully respected,” EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera told reporters when asked about U.S. pushback.
“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,” EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen told reporters.
Google, which has 60 days to comply with the Commission’s orders to treat rivals in a fair and non-discriminatory manner and to allow app developers to steer users away from its app store, criticised the EU findings and said it might take the Commission to court.
“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,” Google President of Global Affairs Kent Walker said in a statement.
“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 said.
MORE FINES UNLIKELY GIVEN ‘CONSTRUCTIVE DIALOGUE’
The Commission, which acts as the EU competition enforcer, pointed to a “constructive dialogue” with Google and significant progress made to comply with the DMA, indicating that daily penalties for non-compliance are likely off the table.
