Google hit with $1bn EU fine for Play Store and search shenanigans

The European Commission has fined Google €890m ($1.01bn) for antitrust practices, including making it difficult for developers to steer consumers towards web stores and prioritising its own search services.

Under the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), Google Play developers should be able to freely inform customers of alternative and cheaper offers and direct them to those offers on websites or alternative stores.

But as part of an investigation into non-compliance that kicked off in 2024, the EU deemed Google gives preferential treatment to its own services over third-parties, therefore breaching the Commission’s rules.

“In particular, Google prevents app developers from freely communicating and promoting offers and concluding contracts with users in distribution channels of their choice, including third-party app stores,” the EU commission said today.

Google has been fined €460m and €430m for those breaches.

As well as the fine, Google has been ordered to treat third-party services that feature in search results in a “fair and non-discriminatory manner,” and allow app developers to “freely communicate, promote offers and conclude contracts with users not only within but also outside the Google Play app store”.

Google has 60 days to comply, after which it risks “periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of its total worldwide turnover”. According to Alphabet’s 2025 financial report, that’s around $403bn.

“Google has fallen short of effective compliance with the Digital Markets Act, and today we have taken decisive yet balanced enforcement action sanctioning these breaches,” said Teresa Ribera, executive vice-president for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition.

“European consumers have a right to be told by app developers where to sign up to the best offers, even when the app store owner does not get a cut. This is the promise of the DMA, protecting fairness, choice and innovation in digital markets for the benefit of all European citizens.”

The fine comes despite Google and Epic agreeing last week to drop another ongoing court fight, meaning the Play Store is opening up to distribute third-party app stores natively, and Google has already taken steps to lift some of its own anti-steering measures, starting with the US, UK and EU markets.

Nonetheless, tech giants Apple and Google are still under pressure to remove app store payment restrictions. Just last week, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) proposed removing measures put in place by Apple and Google that prevent UK app developers from steering customers away from the tech giants’ native platform payment systems.

The CMA is currently consulting with the industry until July 28 to assess if Apple and Google charges are “fair and reasonable”, and if it should force the platforms to allow app developers “to engage directly with their users outside Apple and Google’s app stores”.

Earlier this month, Google Play games GM Aurash Mahbod explained to us some of the thinking behind Google’s complex new fee structure, which has already rolled out in the UK, US and EU, and is coming to more markets soon.