Brussels Puts a Price on Google’s Self-Preference

The European Commission has finally done what Brussels likes to present as a grand defence of competition: it has put a price tag on Google’s habit of favouring itself. The fine totals €890m, split between €460m for search-related conduct and €430m for app-store practices, both found to breach the Digital Markets Act.

The Commission says Google gave priority to its own services, including shopping and hotel offers, in search results rather than giving rival services a fair chance. It also says the company stopped app developers from steering users towards cheaper offers outside Google’s system, including subscriptions sold on websites or through alternative app stores. For a bloc that likes to talk about openness, the basic idea remains refreshingly simple: if you control the gateway, you should not also reserve the best lane for yourself.

Brussels has gone beyond the fine. Google has been ordered to treat third-party services that appear in its search results in a fair and non-discriminatory manner, and to let app developers present offers beyond Google’s app store. The Commission said Google had already begun testing changes to the way its own services are shown in search, and described that as substantial progress towards compliance. One might call that the European version of encouragement, delivered with a bill attached.

A senior EU official said consumers would be the direct beneficiaries and that search results in Europe would have to change as Google adapts its engine. The Commission clearly wants this to be seen as more than another regulatory ritual. Whether it succeeds is another matter, because the EU has a fondness for rules and a weaker record when it comes to making dominant companies behave without endless litigation.

The case also sits inside a broader pattern. Last year, Apple was fined €500m under the DMA over anti-competitive practices in its app store, while Meta was fined €200m over its ad-free consent-or-pay model for Facebook and Instagram. The Commission is signalling that the large platforms are no longer being treated as untouchable, at least not in theory.

Google is not accepting the verdict quietly. Its president of global affairs, Kent Walker, said the fine amounted to product degradation driven by a small group of self-serving complainants. He argued that the DMA would force Google to strip out real-time search features Europeans value, such as instant pricing and direct availability for hotels, flights and restaurants, and to weaken safety protections on Google Play.

The company can appeal and may seek interim measures, including a suspension of the decision. That leaves Brussels with its usual dilemma: it can punish, proclaim and regulate, but turning a dominant platform into a compliant one is slower work than issuing another stern announcement. Still, the Commission has drawn its line, and Google must now decide whether to adjust its business or spend more time explaining to judges why its own services keep ending up first.

Written by Martina Kirchner martina.kirchner@alpineweekly.com