The European Commission has fined Google €890m for allegedly abusing its power by favoring its own apps and services over those from rivals.
It is the first major action against the tech giant under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), a landmark law aimed at reining in the power of the world’s biggest tech companies.
The Commission said Google’s practices limited consumer choice and gave its own services an unfair advantage over rivals.
But the tech giant criticized the action saying that the EU’s requirements could damage services used by millions of European customers.
“To comply, we are having to strip away real-time Search features Europeans love – like instant pricing and direct availability for hotels, flights and restaurants – and dismantle safety protections on Google Play,” Google’s president of global affairs Kent Walker said.
But EU officials rejected his argument, saying the measures are necessary to prevent dominant platforms from disadvantaging rivals.
The total fine is is comprised of two separate breaches of the DMA.
The European Commission imposed a €460m penalty after finding Google favored its own services for helping people book flights and hotels over competitors in search results.
And it gave another levy of €430m fine due to its Play Store rules. Regulators said it didn’t allow people to be shown cheaper offers available outside Google’s own marketplace.
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