The European Union fines Google $1 billion for violating the Digital Markets Law. The European Commission imposed two fines on Google, with a total value of 890 million euros (about a billion dollars), after convicting it of violating the Digital Markets Law, by giving its services priority in search results and imposing restrictions on application developers within the Google Play Store.
These are the first fines imposed on Google under the Digital Markets Law, but they are the fifth and sixth that the company has faced in Europe due to anti-competitive practices, according to Reuters.
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She stressed that the Digital Markets Law requires companies classified as “gatekeepers” not to give their services preferential treatment in the ranking of search results, and also requires them to allow developers to inform users of alternative purchasing channels without unjustified fees or restrictions.
For his part, Alphabet's head of global affairs, Kent Walker, criticized the decision, considering that the implementation of the digital markets law "harms the products that Europeans use daily."
The Commission noted that Google offered its services at the top of search results with visual features and filtering tools that are not available to competing services. It also found that the fees imposed by the company on activities related to directing users outside the application store, in addition to the duration of imposing those fees, exceeded the limits permitted by law.
The Commission explained in a statement on Thursday that it imposed a fine of 460 million euros ($523.5 million) due to Google’s preference for its services, such as shopping, hotels, transportation, and sports, at the expense of competing services in search results.
In addition to another fine of 430 million euros ($489.4 million) due to restrictions that prevent app developers from directing users to cheaper purchasing options outside the Google Play Store.
At the same time, the Commission acknowledged that Google had begun testing modifications to the way its services were displayed in search results, and had also made changes to the App Store rules, considering that these steps represented progress towards compliance with the requirements of the law.
On the other hand, European Union Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera defended the decision, stressing that “the best products should succeed because they are the best, not because they are owned by the company that runs the search engine.”
Technology Commissioner Hina Virkkonen also said the measures aim to ensure "fair competition and a level playing field" in digital markets.
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“, stressing that the company is studying the decision and the possibility of appealing it. On the other hand, European Union Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera defended the decision, stressing that “
