By Xinhua News Agency

The European Commission announced on Wednesday that U.S. tech giant Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has violated the Digital Markets Act (DMA) through practices related to its Google Search service and Google Play Store. If the violations are upheld, the company could face substantial fines.

The Commission issued two preliminary findings, stating that Alphabet has been giving preferential treatment to its own services – such as shopping, hotel booking, transportation, and financial services – by ranking them higher in Google Search results than those of third-party providers. 

According to a statement, this practice is deemed non-compliant with the DMA’s stipulations. Regarding the Google Play Store, the Commission raised concerns that Alphabet imposes restrictions on app developers, restricting them from directing users to alternative platforms offering better deals. Additionally, it criticized Alphabet for charging excessively high fees to app developers for services such as customer acquisition via its app store.

Global annual revenue

Alphabet now has the opportunity to review the Commission’s case file and submit a written response to these preliminary findings. If the Commission upholds its assessment, it will issue a non-compliance decision. Under the DMA, violators can be fined up to 10 percent of their global annual revenue. The DMA, enforced to regulate the behavior of large digital “gatekeepers,” aims to ensure fair competition and offer more choices to consumers. In September 2023, the Commission designated Alphabet as a gatekeeper for its Google Search service and the Google Play Store on Android devices.

Responding to the findings, Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior director of competition, stated in a blog post: “The Commission’s findings require us to make even more changes to how we show certain types of Search results, which would make it harder for people to find what they are looking for and reduce traffic to European businesses.”