Europe’s long war with Big Tech is heading into another major battle. Brussels is preparing a record fine for Google over the way its search engine promotes the company’s own services. More than money is at stake — the case could help decide who gets to shape the future of the internet.
The EU is moving towards a landmark penalty against Google under its new digital competition rules. According to the German newspaper Handelsblatt, the European Commission is nearing a decision in a case centred on company’s search business.
The penalty could amount to hundreds of millions of euros. The announcement may come before the EU’s summer break. If confirmed, it would be the largest fine issued so far under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), the new law designed to curb the power of the world’s biggest technology companies.
A battle over search
The investigation, launched last March, focuses on accusations that Google gives preferential treatment to its own services in search results. Regulators are examining whether products such as Google Shopping, Maps, Flights or Hotels are being unfairly promoted over rivals. The case strikes at the very heart of Google’s business. Search remains the company’s flagship product and the driving force behind its dominance online.
The Commission didn’t comment directly on the report. It’s goal, however, is to ensure that the world’s most widely used internet search engine complies with local regulations, not to hand out fines, according to Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier.
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“Even with our negotiations on future solutions, we will not hesitate to move to the next steps as soon as possible,” he said in a statement to Reuters.
Google: EU is making the internet worse
Google has repeatedly criticised the EU’s approach, arguing that the bloc’s rules are damaging the quality of the user experience. Nevertheless, the company is interested in resolving the matter.
“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 said.
EU regulators see the issue very differently. They argue that the biggest digital platforms have become so dominant that rivals have little chance of competing without intervention.
Earlier this month, the Commission said it had given Google more time to address concerns after previous proposals from the company failed to satisfy regulators.
Europe’s long war with Big Tech
The dispute is only the latest chapter in a years-long confrontation between Europe and Silicon Valley. In 2018, the Commission fined Google €4.34 billion over Android, accusing the company of abusing the operating system’s dominant market position. EU judges later trimmed the penalty slightly, while upholding the core findings against the company.
The highest fine imposed so far for a violation of the DMA is €500 million. The Commission, which among other things serves as the EU’s antitrust authority, imposed this fine on the American company Apple for the way it operates its App Store.
For Alphabet, Google’s parent company, the financial hit may be manageable. The broader stakes are much larger. The case is emerging as one of the first major tests of how aggressively the EU is prepared to enforce its new digital rulebook against the world’s most powerful technology firms.
