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Google's latest run-in with Europe comes with a 10-digit price tag, as well as a fresh test for trans-Atlantic trade. EU regulators on Thursday fined the search giant $1 billion, saying it abused its dominance by giving its own services prime placement in search results while pushing rivals down the page, and by imposing restrictions in the Google Play app store that limited how developers could deal directly with users, per the New York Times. Officials say that behavior violates the bloc's new Digital Markets Act, designed to rein in "gatekeeper" platforms that can make or break competitors.
"The best products should succeed because they're better, not because they're owned by the company running the search engine," says Teresa Ribera of the European Commission's Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, per the AP. Google has 60 days to comply by boosting the visibility of competing services or face additional penalties of up to 5% of its global revenue, per the Times. The company, which has already racked up more than $11.4 billion in EU fines since 2017, called the move harmful to users.
The timing lands as Washington eyes new tariffs on the EU, amid long-standing complaints from President Trump about European actions targeting US tech firms. A senior EU official tells the Guardian they aren't sure how Trump will react to the latest development, but that the EU has "sovereign right" to keep US tech firms in check on its own turf. The fine is modest next to Google parent Alphabet's latest quarterly profit of $112.1 billion, but it underscores Brussels' role as the most aggressive watchdog of Big Tech, per the Times. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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