The EU is preparing a multi-million-euro fine for Google for violating digital legislation
The European Union plans to impose a fine of several hundred million euros on Alphabet, the parent company of Google, as part of a wide-ranging antitrust investigation. The decision could be one of the most high-profile in the field of digital regulation in recent years.
This was reported by Reuters.
The European Commission’s final verdict is expected to be announced before the start of the summer recess for European institutions.
According to Western media reports, this could be the largest fine imposed under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which the EU introduced to limit the monopolistic influence of global tech companies.
The official investigation against Google began in March 2025. European regulators suspect the company of prioritizing its own services in search results, creating an uneven playing field for competitors.
This specifically involves the promotion of platforms such as:
- Google Flights;
- Google Shopping;
- other internal corporate services.
According to the European Commission, such practices may violate the principles of fair competition and contradict the EU’s new digital rules.
European Commission spokesperson Thomas Rignée stated that Brussels’ main goal is not the fine itself, but Google’s full compliance with European legislation.
At the same time, the EU emphasized that it is prepared to impose severe financial sanctions if the company fails to remedy the identified violations and reach a compromise with regulators.
Google has already criticized the claims made by European officials. Company representatives stated that the changes it was forced to implement due to EU requirements allegedly led to “the greatest deterioration in search quality in the service’s history.”
The company also claims that the new rules create inconveniences for users in Europe and serve the interests of a limited circle of competitors and complainants.
Previously, the European Commission had already granted Google additional time to adjust its search algorithms. However, regulators deemed the company’s previous proposals insufficient.
Previously, the European Consumer Organization (BEUC), together with 29 industry associations from 27 EU countries, filed official complaints with the European Commission and national regulators against tech giants Alphabet (Google), Meta Platforms, and TikTok. The companies are accused of failing to protect European users from financial manipulation and deceptive advertising.
Meta owner and billionaire Mark Zuckerberg has decided to shut down one of the company’s largest and most costly projects—the Horizon Worlds metaverse—which has incurred losses of $80 billion. Support for the VR platform on Quest devices will end by mid-June, and the app will disappear from the app store by the end of March.
In addition, Meta Platforms Inc. announced a price increase for its Quest VR devices due to a significant rise in the cost of manufacturing high-performance equipment. The changes took effect on April 19 and will affect the US, UK, European, and Japanese markets.
