EU hits Google with $1B DMA penalty over Search and Play Store

The European Commission fined Google about $1 billion under the Digital Markets Act for search-ranking and Play Store practices, roughly $524 million for search violations and $490 million for Play violations. Google has 60 days to comply, including fair, non-discriminatory treatment of third-party services in search results and allowing app developers to promote offers and contract outside the Play Store. The commission said the proposed changes show substantial progress toward compliance and good progress on Play, and it will continue dialogue on how this affects AI tools. The penalties mark the DMA’s first such actions, following earlier EU actions against Android/ad tech, while Google contends the ruling degrades its products and harms users.