Ramona Pop, the chairwoman of the Federal Association of Consumer Centers (VZBV), welcomed the massive fines imposed on Google. “It is good news that the EU Commission is finally taking action and enforcing European law,” she stated. She warned that Google must not abuse its market power, explaining that favoring its own services in the search engine not only hurts competitors but also results in less consumer choice, poorer offerings, and higher prices.
The Brussels authorities announced on Thursday that Google has been hit with total fines of 890 million euros for violations of the Digital Markets Act (DSA). The penalties stemmed from two main types of misconduct.
In the first decision, Google received a fine for allegedly giving its own services-such as shopping, hotel, travel, and sports results-preferential treatment in Google Search. The Commission determined that Google prominently displays its internal services in search results while giving less prominence to similar third-party services.
The second decision addressed the restrictions imposed on app developers. Google was fined for preventing developers from freely communicating alternative offers and concluding contracts with users through distribution channels of their own choice, despite these developers being allowed to inform customers about alternative options.
Furthermore, the Commission has ordered Google to cease these non-compliances within 60 days and implement measures to treat third-party services fairly and grant developers more operational freedom. Failure to comply risks the company incurring penalty payments of up to five percent of its worldwide annual turnover.
