Digital Markets Act: Brussels reportedly close to record fine against Google
The EU Commission accuses Google of inappropriately favoring its own services in search results. According to Handelsblatt, a record fine is now imminent.
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The EU Commission is reportedly close to imposing the highest fine to date against Google for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
This is reported by Handelsblatt, citing "circles of the EU Commission," and states that the fine would be in the high three-digit million euro range. However, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has the final say, and an announcement is expected before the summer break.
The fine is intended to address the favoritism of its own services in the search engine and would therefore be significantly below the maximum possible amount. This is justified by the fact that Google has met Brussels halfway on several points. Details had already become public in February.
Brussels not yet satisfied
The record fine is intended to conclude an investigation into the allegation that Google's search engine prefers its own services in its results and disadvantages competing offerings. This primarily affects vertical search services, such as for hotels, flights, and restaurants. According to the report, the promised concessions are not sufficient for Brussels. Therefore, a high fine alone is not enough. What further measures are necessary is being discussed in intensive talks. These reportedly include, among other things, Google's self-preferencing in the so-called AI overview, a generated summary of the most important search results. Google has shown willingness to talk, but has also claimed that the changes would represent a deterioration for people in Europe.
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Should Brussels indeed impose a high fine on Google soon, there is also the risk of once again angering US President Donald Trump. He has repeatedly announced his intention to react to such penalty payments with new tariffs. Nevertheless, Handelsblatt quotes a Green Party MEP and a CDU MEP from the EU Parliament as supporting the threatened fine. The pressure on von der Leyen to show more toughness in dealing with Trump has recently increased. At the same time, the announced drastic changes to Google Search make it clear that Brussels could once again be lagging behind actual developments even with such a record fine.
(mho)
