EU reportedly plans to fine Google over search practices

The European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, reportedly plans to issue a record fine to Google LLC over its practices in the search market.

German newspaper Handelsblatt today cited sources as saying that the company will be ordered to pay a high nine-figure penalty. According to Reuters, it would represent the largest-ever fine issued by EU regulators under the bloc’s DMA legislation.

The European Parliament passed the DMA, or Digital Markets Act, in 2022 to regulate large tech firms. The rules that it contains cover advertising, user data management and mobile apps. Additionally, the DMA regulates situations where a company operates a platform that provides access to both its own services and competing products. That part of the legislation is at the center of the scrutiny facing Google.

Last year, the EU tentatively found that the company had breached the DMA with its search engine. Regulators believe that the company displayed first party services such as Google Shopping more prominently in search results than competing third party websites. 

The EU also took issue with some of the Alphabet Inc. unit’s design choices. According to the European Commission, the design of interface sections such as Google News’ sports scores page gave the company an unfair edge over rivals. The page contains filters that aren’t available for a standard search result.

Google reportedly proposed a series of changes to address the EU’s concerns, but the plan was deemed insufficient. Earlier this month, regulators gave the search giant more time to modify its practices. The EU reportedly plans to issue the fine before the European Parliament’s summer recess, which starts on July 27.

Google told Reuters in a statement that “the changes ​we’ve already made to Search under ​the DMA represent the ​biggest downgrade in the product’s history, creating a second-rate ‌experience for Europeans to the ​benefit of a ​few self-interested complainants.”

The probe into Google’s search practices is one of two DMA investigations that the EU announced last March. The other, which is still ongoing, focuses on Google Play.

The DMA requires app store operators to permit steering, a practice whereby app developers ask users to make purchases on an external website. Last year, the EU tentatively found that Google Play had placed restrictions on steering. Officials also found the marketplace’s in-app purchase processing fees to be excessive.

The EU launched a third investigation into Google last December over its search engine’s AI Overviews and AI Mode features. Officials are probing whether the tools’ use of content from third party publishers harms competition. Additionally, the EU is scrutinizing some of Google’s artificial intelligence training practices.

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