Google fined €890 million by EU for Digital Markets Act violations

Herz — Business Desk · 23 July 2026 at 10:50 · 30s summary · 3 min read

What we know

The European Commission fined Google €890 million on July 23, 2026, according to The Guardian. The fine targets two separate violations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) — regulation (EU) 2022/1925 on contestable and fair digital markets, adopted by the European Union in 2022.

The fine has two components. The €460 million for search penalties Google's favoritism toward its own services — Google Shopping, the group's price comparison tool, and hotel offerings — in its search results, to the detriment of competitors. The €430 million for the app store targets Google Play Store, the official application store for Android devices: Google prohibited developers from directing consumers to cheaper offers available on other platforms or websites.

To remedy these practices, the Commission ordered Google to treat third-party services in its search results in a 'fair and non-discriminatory' manner and to permit developers to offer their services outside the Play Store.

Google had already begun testing modifications in how it displays shopping products and flight results. The Commission recognized these changes as 'substantial progress toward compliance'.

The DMA: A new regulatory framework

Unlike classical antitrust law, the DMA imposes obligations directly on large platforms designated as 'gatekeepers', without requiring the Commission to prove abuse of dominant position or demonstrable market harm. The legal fine cap can reach 10% of the company's global annual turnover. Google was formally designated a gatekeeper for Google Search, Play, Maps, Shopping, YouTube, and Chrome on September 6, 2023.

Google's practice of favoring Google Shopping in search results was previously sanctioned in June 2017 under classical antitrust law, with a €2.42 billion fine — a process far more lengthy to establish. The DMA aims specifically to avoid such lengthy demonstrations by setting direct prohibitions.

Tense political context

The decision was announced just hours before a series of temporary US tariffs on some 60 countries expired, a timing coincidence that could provoke Donald Trump's anger.

A senior EU official stated that the Union holds the 'sovereign right' to regulate American technology companies within its jurisdiction and that the fine's timing is unrelated to tariff disputes.

Timeline

1. June 2017
   The Commission fined Google €2.42 billion for favoring Google Shopping in its search results (case AT.39740).
2. Fine of €4.34 billion for anticompetitive restrictions imposed on Android device manufacturers (case AT.40099).