The European Commission announced on Wednesday that Google Search and Google Play, two services from Alphabet, violate EU competition rules. This will potentially lead to massive fines if they do not comply.
The Commission has preliminarily informed Alphabet that Google Search discriminates against rival services by giving them less favourable rankings. Meanwhile, Google Play prevents developers from directing customers to other distribution channels with better prices.
Alphabet responded, stating the Commission's recommendations would harm European businesses and consumers, hinder innovation, weaken security, and degrade product quality.
These findings follow two proceedings initiated in March 2024 under the new Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into effect at the beginning of last year.
Alphabet is accused of exploiting its near-monopoly with Google Search to favour its own price comparison services, disadvantaging competitors in the online search for hotels, airline tickets, and other consumer goods.
In 2017, Google was fined €2.4 billion for similar conduct, but the proposed remedies were never deemed satisfactory.
Additionally, the European Commission ordered Apple on Wednesday to enhance the interoperability of its iPhones with competitors' connected devices, such as watches and earphones, also under the DMA.
The legislation allows for fines of up to 20% of the offenders' global revenue in cases of serious and repeated violations.
