The European Union fined Google’s parent company Alphabet €890 million (roughly $1 billion) on July 23, 2026, for two separate violations of the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The European Commission issued a €460 million penalty for Google giving preferential treatment to its own Shopping, Hotels, and Flights services in Google Search results. A second fine of €430 million was levied for Play Store rules that prevented Android developers from directing users to alternative, potentially cheaper payment systems outside Google’s platform.
Google has been given 60 days to bring its policies into compliance or face additional periodic penalty payments. In Search, the company must treat third-party services “in a fair and non-discriminatory manner.” For the Play Store, it must allow Android developers to freely promote offers to users both inside and outside the app store.
The fines follow a non-compliance investigation opened more than two years ago and a preliminary ruling in March 2025. Google was granted an extension in May 2026 after the Commission determined a previous proposal from the company “is simply not strong enough.” Google had made several changes in an attempt to comply — including removing the Google Flights widget for EU users and boosting links to third-party comparison sites — but argued the adjustments amounted to “the biggest downgrade in the product’s history.” On the Play Store side, the Commission acknowledged that Google’s revised developer fees and restrictions “constitute good progress towards compliance.”
Google faces similar pressure in the United States, where Fortnite publisher Epic Games successfully sued the company over in-app purchase fees, and Google will be required to carry rival Android app stores within its own.
The DMA applies to large “gatekeeper” companies providing core digital services in Europe and requires them to compete fairly. The maximum penalty under the law is 10 percent of global annual revenue — equivalent to roughly $40 billion for Google, based on its reported $400 billion in 2025 revenue.
“The best products should succeed because they’re better, not because they’re owned by the company running the search engine,” said Teresa Ribera, the Commission’s executive vice-president for clean, just and competitive transition.
Source: The Verge