European Commission fines Google €890M over DMA violations

The European Commission has fined Google €890 million (about $1 billion) for two violations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

According to the Commission’s website, the first fine of €460 million was imposed for Google’s alleged practice of favoring its own services in its search engine results. The Commission found that Google had given preferential treatment to its own products, including shopping, hotel, travel and sports services, by ranking them higher than competing services in search results, including through prominent placement, enhanced visual features and filters.

The second fine of €430 million relates to restrictions imposed by Google Play.

According to the European Commission, Google prevented developers from freely informing users about alternative and cheaper purchasing options available on websites or other app stores, while also charging excessive fees for such referrals.