The European Union (EU) may fine Google millions of dollars -- the
company's largest fine to date -- for breaching laws related to the European Digital Markets Act (DMA).
In fact, the EU has been considering a "high triple-digit-million-euro fine"
for illegally favoring its own services in search results, and for limiting competition on its platforms.
The decision resides in the hands of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Google's fine stems from a 2024 investigation. The EU has not dropped the allegations, despite all the recent changes that the company has implemented around artificial intelligence (AI) and
agentic commerce.
EU regulators reportedly believe the company has not fully addressed concerns even after Google has made the requested changes, Reuters reported.
Google’s changes are ongoing. The company
listed many changes it has made to comply, including redesigning certain features and completely removing others in
Europe.
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Google announced additional changes this week -- more than twenty. “The changes we’ve already made to Search under the DMA represent the biggest downgrade in the
product’s history, creating a second-rate experience for Europeans to the benefit of a few self-interested complainants,” a company spokesperson told the New York Post.
Other DMA cases against Google remain open. One case focuses on Google Gemini and its rival AI assistants -- to which Google is likely to be required to give equal access to Android. A decision is
expected on that this case during the summer, according to several reports.
Under the DMA, the EU Commission has the ability to fine what they have defined as "designated gatekeepers" up to
10% of their global annual revenue for a first offense and up to 20% for repeated offenses.
Based on Alphabet’s most recently reported revenue in Europe, 10% of Google's most recent quarterly revenue in Europe reported as the EMEA
region is $3.306 billion.
About 10% of global revenue from its most recent quarterly global revenue is $10.99 billion, while 10% of its full-year global revenue is $40.28 billion.