European Union fines Google 890 million euros

The European Commission has fined Google a total of 890 million euros for violating the requirements of the Digital Markets Act.

The decision became the first major case of applying the new European legislation aimed at limiting the market influence of the largest technology corporations and ensuring fairer competition in the digital sphere.

According to the European regulator, the company used its dominant position to promote its own services to the detriment of competitors. The commission believes that such a practice limited user choice and created unjustified advantages for Google products on the market.

The total amount of sanctions consists of two separate fines imposed for different violations of the Digital Markets Act. The first fine of 460 million euros is related to the operation of the Google search engine. As the investigation found, when searching for airline tickets and hotels, the company gave priority to its own booking services, placing them above the offers of competing platforms.

The second violation concerns the Google Play app store. For it, the corporation was fined 430 million euros. According to the European Commission, the platform's existing rules limited the ability of developers to inform users about more favorable options for purchasing digital goods and services outside the Google app store, thereby reducing competition and limiting consumer choice.

Google did not agree with the conclusions of the European authorities. Company representatives stated that the new requirements could negatively affect the quality of services used daily by millions of residents of Europe. In their opinion, the implementation of certain provisions of the legislation could complicate the operation of digital platforms and worsen the user experience.

In turn, the European Commission rejected such arguments, emphasizing that the goal of the Digital Markets Act is to prevent abuses by the largest technology companies and create equal conditions for all market participants. In Brussels, they believe that dominant digital platforms should not use their position to limit competition and promote their own products.

Google now has 60 days to bring its activities in line with the requirements of European legislation or challenge the European Commission's decision in court.

Source: BBC