EU Prepares to Fine Google as Part of Increased Big Tech Enforcement

The European Commission is preparing to issue a new wave of fines against Google, the Financial Times reported Wednesday (July 15).

The move marks an escalation in the enforcement of the European Union’s digital regulations, according to the report, which cited internal documents and unnamed sources.

The upcoming enforcement actions, expected to be unveiled this week, will include fines totaling hundreds of millions of euros across separate decisions, the report said. They follow a series of long-running investigations into the business practices of the search giant, a subsidiary of Alphabet, which reported revenue of $402.83 billion last year.

The commission’s decisions focus on two primary areas of alleged non-compliance, according to the report. First, regulators are expected to find that Google illegally prioritized its own specialized services, such as shopping and travel, within its search results over those of competitors. Second, the EU will reportedly require Google to grant app developers on its Play Store greater latitude to direct users to alternative mobile application systems.

The enforcement action will also carry the threat of daily penalty payments if Google fails to comply with regulatory orders under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) within a 60-day window, the report said. EU officials have characterized Google’s non-compliance as “serious.”

The enforcement actions follow previous DMA-related fines levied against Apple and Meta last year, which amounted to 500 million euros (about $573 million) and 200 million euros (about $229 million), respectively, according to the report.

In addition to the fines, the EU is set to decide whether Google must provide third-party search engines with access to its proprietary search data, including ranking and click-stream information. The commission is also expected to outline requirements for Google to share features available to its Gemini service with third-party artificial intelligence providers to maintain a level playing field in the emerging AI sector, the report said.

Google has defended its practices, saying changes already implemented to comply with the DMA have resulted in a “downgrade” of the user experience, according to the report. The company expressed a desire to resolve the investigations to focus on product innovation.

Meanwhile, the EU faces pressure from lawmakers to curb the dominance of tech giants in the United States. In June, the commission warned Amazon and Microsoft that they could also face increased regulation under the DMA.