BRUSSELS: The European Commission has imposed a €890 million ($1 billion) fine on Google, accusing the technology giant of abusing its dominant position in online search and violating the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
In a statement, the Commission said Google illegally used its market dominance to favor its own services including shopping, travel, gaming and other products while pushing rival services lower in search results, harming fair competition.
The Commission also found that Google prevented app developers from informing users about alternative payment options outside the Google Play Store, a practice that allegedly helped preserve the company’s commission fees. Regulators said the conduct violates the DMA, which is designed to ensure fair and non-discriminatory practices by major technology companies.
Google has been given 60 days to comply with the Commission’s decision or face additional financial penalties.
The ruling is expected to heighten trade tensions between the European Union and the United States, as the Trump administration has criticized the bloc’s digital regulations as unfair and warned of possible retaliatory measures.
Google rejected the decision, saying the ruling would ultimately harm European consumers.
The latest action is part of a series of antitrust cases against the company. In 2018, the EU fined Google €4.34 billion over Android-related anti-competitive practices, while in 2017 it imposed a €2.42 billion penalty for favoring its comparison shopping service in search results. European courts have since upheld key aspects of those rulings.
