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TechEU fines Google €890m for breaching Digital Markets Act
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The European Commission fined Google €890 million on 23 July 2026 for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The penalty consists of two parts: €460 million for Google's search monopoly that prioritizes its own services like Google Flights and Google Store over competitors, and €430 million for excessively charging businesses that direct consumers to alternative purchase channels on Google Play. Commentators, including Open Markets Institute Europe director Max von Thun, criticized the fine as 'the bare minimum' and noted the Commission took over two years to reach this stage. The Commission cited Google's dominance, with 482 million non-signed-in accounts active in the EU, as a factor in the fine size. Google has 60 days to comply with the DMA.
Source report
The European Commission issued an €890 million fine against Google on Thursday (23 July) for violations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a penalty that commentators immediately described as "the bare minimum."
"It's taken the commission over two years [to get to this stage of the investigations], which is simply not good enough. It's time to move quickly to force Google to end its anti-competitive practices," said Max von Thun, director of Open Markets Institute Europe.
Key Findings and Penalties
The commission determined that Google's search monopoly prioritises the company's own services—such as Google Flights and Google Store—over other results, resulting in a €460 million penalty.
Additionally, Google was found to have excessively charged businesses for directing consumers to alternative, often cheaper, purchase channels on Google Play, incurring another €430 million fine. The two penalties combine to a total of €890 million.
Commission's Rationale
"The aim of this intervention is to guarantee that third-party services who have equally good offers than Google, who are not worse in terms of content, in terms of substance, get a fair chance to be found by users," a commission official told the press on Thursday.
"Basically, the whole European population is using Google," the official continued, noting that the 482 million non-signed-in Google accounts active in the EU factored into the size of the penalty.
Timeline and Next Steps
The commission opened the case in March 2024. Google now has 60 days to come into compliance with the DMA.
Source
EUobserverWestern
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