Tech 25 July 2026

Google was fined 890 million by Brussels and has 60 days to redesign search

The first major penalty under the Digital Markets Act. Brussels says Google favoured its own services in search and blocked cheaper options in the Play Store.

The European Commission has fined Google 890 million euros for breaching the Digital Markets Act. It is the first major penalty issued under that law, and in cash terms it tops everything Brussels had previously levied on Apple and Meta combined.

Why was Google fined?

Two things, and the fine splits between them. The larger share, 460 million, concerns search: the Commission found Google was favouring its own services in results, pushing in-house comparison, hotel and flight products above rivals. The remaining 430 million covers the Play Store and rules that limited how developers could tell users about cheaper ways to pay outside the store.

Neither complaint is new — the legal basis is. Until now, cases against big tech ran under competition rules and dragged on for years, as they did when Google lost its appeal against the 4.1 billion Android fine. The DMA was designed to shorten exactly that path, spelling out up front what “gatekeepers” may and may not do.

What changes for people using Google in Europe?

The company has 60 days to end the practices or face periodic penalties of up to 5% of average daily worldwide turnover. In practice that means reworking the results page in Europe — more room for comparison sites and rival services, less automatic prominence for in-house products — and loosening the rules that stopped apps pointing users to outside payments.

Whether that makes search better or merely busier is genuinely up for debate, and the answer depends on how Google chooses to comply. The company says it is in “constructive” talks with Brussels to head off further penalties, which suggests the redesign is already under way. It is the same regulatory pressure that recently forced it to open Android up to rivals.

The decision and its legal framework are published on the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act portal.

By Oliver Grant

Image: KenSwe72 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

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