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EU prepares to penalise Google over alleged self-preferencing in search
Regulators say Google has not fully addressed concerns that its search engine promotes its own services, a violation of the EU’s Digital Markets Act that could trigger a significant penalty next year.
Google is facing the prospect of a major penalty from European Union antitrust regulators next year, with officials indicating the company has not done enough to meet strict EU rules that prohibit tech giants from giving their own services preferential treatment in search results, as per a report by Reuters.
According to people familiar with ongoing discussions, EU authorities believe Google’s most recent adjustments to how results are displayed still fall short of requirements laid out under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The European Commission charged the company in March with elevating its own offerings, including shopping listings, hotel options and flight search tools, above rival platforms.
The dispute puts Google at odds with two large groups: vertical search providers that specialise in specific sectors, and travel and hospitality businesses such as hotels, airlines and restaurants. Both sets of companies argue that Google’s placement of its own units makes it harder for them to appear prominently in search results, though their commercial interests differ.
Google has submitted several rounds of proposals since the charges were filed, most recently in October. However, sources say the Commission believes these changes still do not address the core issue of self-preferencing, which the DMA strictly prohibits. A penalty, potentially running into billions, remains on the table if Google does not offer a compliant solution.
While the Commission declined to comment, Google has previously pushed back on the regulatory direction, arguing that further modifications could end up prioritising a small group of intermediary services at the expense of European businesses that rely on direct customer access through Search. The company still has time to make revisions that could avert a fine.
Any eventual sanction would add to growing transatlantic friction, as US officials have repeatedly criticised the EU’s new tech framework as disproportionately targeting American companies.
Under the DMA, violations can trigger fines of up to 10% of a company’s global annual revenue, one of the harshest enforcement mechanisms in EU competition law. The self-preferencing inquiry is one of several major cases involving Google: the company is also under separate scrutiny for practices related to its Google Play app store, which could similarly result in penalties next year, according to earlier indications from investigators.
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