Google was today fined €890 million ($1 billion) by the European Union for breaching antitrust rules with regard to its search and Google Play store services.
The European Commission found that Google had broken the Digital Markets Act (DMA) by using its dominant position in the search market to favour its own services, like shopping and hotel deals, over those of rivals.
The Commission also said that the company had abused its position by preventing developers from directing users to cheaper ways to buy apps and app subscriptions on websites and alternative app stores.
Google has been fined €460 million over its search practices and €430 million for its app store rules. Going forward, the Commission ordered the company to treat third-party services in search results "fairly and without discrimination" and to allow developers to offer users alternatives outside Google's app store. From the EU press release:
As part of today's two decisions, the Commission has ordered Google to bring the non-compliance to an end.
In particular, Google must implement measures to:
- Treat third-party services that feature on Google's search results in a fair and non-discriminatory manner by reference to its own services, and
- Allow app developers distributing their apps via Google Play Store, both technically and contractually, to freely communicate, promote offers and conclude contracts with users not only within but also outside the Google Play app store.
The Commission said that changes already made by Google to rectify the situation represented "substantial progress towards compliance." Google has also reportedly proposed and started testing changes to how it presents shopping ads and content related services, such as sports.
Google is required to comply with the Commission's decisions within 60 days, otherwise it risks periodic penalty payments of up to 5 percent of its total worldwide turnover. Google made revenues of just over $400 billion last year. It could still decide to appeal the decisions.
Apple is fighting a similar battle with the bloc's regulators. The company was fined €500 million ($573 million) last year for restricting App Store developers from directing users to alternative offers, and earlier this month the EU's General Court separately rejected its challenges to its designation as a gatekeeper for the App Store and iOS.
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