EU Commission fines Google 890 million euros over search bias

2026-07-23

Self-preferencing in search found

The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, said on the 23rd it would fine Google, a unit of U.S. Alphabet, 890 million euros (about 1.65 trillion yen). It said Google had favored its own services in its search engine and violated the rules.

The measure falls under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), introduced to curb monopolistic power among large platform companies. It is the third fine under the DMA, following penalties against U.S. Apple and Meta in April 2025, and is the largest ever imposed under the law.

Commission presses Google Play changes

The Commission said Google had repeatedly engaged in self-preferencing prohibited by the DMA. In search results, it said, Google gave prominent placement to its own shopping, hotel booking and traffic information services, while failing to treat rival services on equal terms.

The Commission also said the app store Google Play unreasonably restricted app developers from directing consumers to lower-cost external websites. It called for corrective action within 60 days and said changes had begun in search results and elsewhere, while warning it would impose additional fines if the response proved insufficient.

Big tech rules and U.S.-EU friction

The DMA is a form of ex-ante regulation that sets out prohibited conduct and obligations for big tech companies in advance. Serious violations can draw fines of up to 10% of annual revenue, or up to 20% for repeated offenses.

In Google's case, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the EU's highest court, in July upheld a past Commission finding of competition law breaches and confirmed a 4.13 billion euro (about 760 billion yen) fine. Backed by tough sanctions, the EU is pressing tech companies to change their business models. The Trump administration has criticized EU regulation of U.S. companies, and the dispute could become a source of friction between Washington and Brussels.

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