EU Commission Set to Impose Hundreds of Millions of Euros in DMA Fines on Google
Alina Collins
The European Commission is preparing to fine Google hundreds of millions of euros under the Digital Markets Act for suppressing rivals in search and its app store — the largest DMA enforcement action against a single company to date.
What exactly is Google accused of?
The first investigation alleges Google illegally favoured its own shopping and travel services in search results, pushing competitors down the page. In plain terms = when you search for a hotel, Google shows you its own comparison page first.
The second demands Google give app developers on the Play Store greater freedom to steer users toward alternative download channels. This means → developers are currently locked inside Google's distribution system, and users get fewer choices.
Internal Commission documents describe the violations as something that "should be regarded as serious" — a classification that unlocks heavier penalties.
How large is the fine — and how does it compare?
The DMA allows penalties of up to 10% of global revenue. Alphabet, Google's parent, reported revenue of $402.83 billion last year — a theoretical ceiling above $40 billion. The actual fine is in the "hundreds of millions of euros" range.
For reference: Apple was fined €500 million under the DMA last year; Meta was fined €200 million. Earlier, between 2017 and 2019, EU antitrust regulators hit Google with cumulative fines exceeding €8 billion.
This means → the dollar amount alone is not unprecedented, but pursuing two investigations simultaneously against one company with a daily-penalty threat attached marks an escalation in DMA enforcement intensity.
Beyond the fine — what else is coming?
If Google fails to comply within 60 days, it faces periodic daily fines — even though the two sides spent months negotiating a deal that would have limited penalties to past conduct. Those talks failed.
The Commission will also rule on whether Google must open up search data — rankings, queries, clicks, and browsing patterns — to third-party search engines. Google argues this would compromise user privacy.
A separate decision covers AI: how far Google must go in giving third-party AI providers access to capabilities equivalent to its own Gemini service. This reflects the EU's regulatory gaze extending from traditional search into AI tools.
Why does the political backdrop matter?
US President Trump has publicly attacked EU fines on American tech companies as "a form of taxation," and transatlantic friction over digital regulation has recently eased.
But internal EU pressure cuts the other way: civil-society groups, European Parliament members, and rival tech companies are all demanding sustained DMA enforcement — a stance aligned with the EU's broader push for "tech sovereignty" and reduced dependence on American technology.
Put simply = the Commission is caught between two forces — externally, managing the US relationship; internally, proving the DMA is not a paper law. The final size of this fine is the measuring stick for that balancing act.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.