EU fines Google $1 billion over Play Store and Search violations

The European Commission has fined Google a combined $1 billion for violations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) related to the Google Play Store and Search. Google has 60 days to comply or face periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of its global revenues. The company has the right to appeal the ruling.

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The European Commission has fined Google a combined $1 billion over violations related to the Google Play Store and Search.

Google must comply within 60 days or risk shelling out periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of its global revenues.

The Commission said Google can appeal this ruling, while also acknowledging steps the company has taken to mitigate some of these violations.

Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) came into effect a couple of years ago to curb the dominance of major tech corporations like Google, Amazon, Apple, and Meta. The legislation is designed to ensure a level playing field for all players in the market regardless of their size. It didn’t take long for the European Commission to announce investigations into Google, along with other big tech corporations, for non-compliance. The investigation may now have reached its conclusion, as the regulator has just slapped a massive fine on the search giant.

In a statement today, the European Commission said it was fining Google €890 million (~$1 billion) over two separate violations related to Search (€460 million) and the Play Store (€430 million).

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