The European Commission has fined Alphabet's Google a total of €890 million (approximately $1 billion) for two separate breaches of the Digital Markets Act, marking the first major enforcement action against the company under the EU's new digital competition rules. The Commission split the penalty into a €460 million fine for self-preferencing in Google Search — where regulators found the company gave preferential placement to its own shopping, hotels, transport and sports results over comparable third-party services — and a €430 million fine for restricting Android app developers from steering users to alternative payment options outside Google Play [Source: European Commission].
Google has been given 60 days to end both violations or face periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of its average daily worldwide turnover, according to the Commission's press release. Separately, EU regulators indicated that Google was making good progress on broader compliance efforts and was likely to avoid further fines on other outstanding matters.
Kent Walker, Google's President of Global Affairs, pushed back against the decision, saying the DMA implementation 'continues to break everyday products' and forces Google to strip real-time search features and dismantle Play Store safety protections [Source: Bloomberg]. The Trump administration also condemned the fine: U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said EU penalties are 'driving massive uncertainty for U.S. exports of goods and services to Europe' and pose a risk to transatlantic trade stability [Source: Bloomberg]. President Donald Trump subsequently threatened new tariffs on EU goods in retaliation and said fines against Google, Apple, Meta and Amazon should be 'entirely reversed,' vowing to investigate the EU over its treatment of U.S. technology companies [Source: BBC News].
Alphabet shares (GOOGL, GOOG) fell 7% on 23 July, contributing to a 2.15% decline in the Nasdaq Composite. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 506.93 points, or 0.97%, to 51,711.65, and the S&P 500 dropped 1.21% to 7,408.30 on the same day. The declines were attributed primarily to Alphabet's post-earnings drop and a 14% loss in Tesla, rather than to the EU fine directly.
The €890 million DMA penalty adds to a cumulative total of approximately €9.5 billion in fines previously levied against Google by EU authorities. Earlier sanctions include the €4.125 billion Android fine — which the European Court of Justice upheld at €4.1 billion on 2 July 2026, ending Google's legal challenge to the Commission's 2018 decision — a €2.42 billion penalty over shopping search rivals, and a €2.95 billion adtech fine imposed last year. The DMA investigation into Google's search and Play Store practices was first opened in March 2024. Google is not alone in receiving DMA penalties: the Commission has previously imposed a €500 million fine on Apple and a €200 million fine on Meta under the same legislation.
Sources: European Commission, Bloomberg, BBC News, The Guardian, Reuters, The Verge, CNBC, Tech Policy Press