The European Union has fined Google $1 billion, saying the company broke antitrust rules with Google Play and its search engine.
The EU said the massive tech company dominated the market, using its platforms to steer users to its products and away from competitors, The Associated Press reported.
The EU and the lead Brussels said Google promoted its services such as shopping, travel, games and language translation, putting its own services more prominently at the top of search results, The New York Times reported.
The Digital Markets Act, enacted in 2022, prevents large tech companies from using their linked products to prevent competition, according to the newspaper.
“The best products should succeed because they’re better, not because they’re owned by the company running the search engine. And European consumers have a right to be told by app developers where to sign up to the best offers, even when the app store owner does not get a cut,” Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s Executive Vice President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, said.
Kent Walker, Google’s President of Global Affairs, said of the penalty, “product degradation driven by a small group of self-serving complainants” will be a negative impact for business and consumers in Europe, the AP reported.
He claims the EU’s Digital Markets Act requires the company “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 has 60 days to comply with the decision, including boosting rivals’ online presence. If it fails to do so, additional penalties can be levied, the Times reported.
This is not the first time the EU has fined the company over its business practices. Google recently lost an appeal of a $4.5 billion antitrust fine for throttling competition and reducing people’s choice because of its dominance of the Android system.
The EU calls the seven leading tech companies such as Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and ByteDance “gatekeepers” that control access for consumers, the AP said.
“In the EU, businesses have the right to compete fairly. Gatekeepers have the obligation to ensure a level playing field and consumers the right to choose for cheaper alternative offers,” Thomas Regnier, European Commission spokesperson, said.
President Donald Trump has threatened in the past to retaliate against the EU for what he considers the unfair targeting of American tech companies, The New York Times reported.
Google’s parent company Alphabet said on Wednesday it had a quarterly profit of $112.1 billion, according to the newspaper.
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