Google DMA fine: €890 million for self-preferencing and steering
In short: The Google DMA fine of €890 million, imposed by the European Commission on 23 July 2026, is the first time the Commission has penalised Google under the Digital Markets Act: €460 million for self-preferencing its own results on Google Search under Article 6(5), and €430 million for restricting steering on Google Play under Article 5(4).
Google ranks its own shopping, hotel and travel results above rival services on Google Search, and it limits how app developers on Google Play tell customers about cheaper offers elsewhere. On 23 July 2026 the European Commission decided that both practices break the Digital Markets Act and fined Google €890 million for them. The Google DMA fine is the first penalty the Commission has issued against Google under that law. Both practices it penalised are ones the CMA is pursuing in the United Kingdom under its own regime, though the CMA has not yet fined anyone for either.
What the Digital Markets Act requires of gatekeepers
The Digital Markets Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/1925) sets per-se conduct obligations for large platforms the Commission designates as gatekeepers. Two of those obligations are in issue here. Article 6(5) prohibits a gatekeeper from treating its own services and products more favourably in ranking, and in the related indexing and crawling, than those of a third party, and requires transparent, fair and non-discriminatory ranking conditions. Article 5(4) requires a gatekeeper to let business users, free of charge, communicate and promote offers to their customers and conclude contracts with them, including through channels other than the gatekeeper’s own.
The Commission designated Google a gatekeeper for Google Search in September 2023. It opened non-compliance investigations into Google’s self-preferencing and steering rules on 25 March 2024, and told Google of its preliminary view that the company was in breach on 19 March 2025. The Commission ended that sequence on 23 July 2026 with two findings of non-compliance and two fines.
The two decisions behind the Google DMA fine
The Commission adopted two separate non-compliance decisions and two separate fines. On Google Search, it found that Google gives preferential treatment to its own shopping, hotel, transport and sports results over similar third-party services, displaying its own more prominently at the top of the page or through enhanced visuals and filters. That is the €460 million self-preferencing decision under Article 6(5). On Google Play, it found that Google prevents developers freely telling customers about, and directing them to, cheaper offers on other websites or app stores, and that the level and duration of Google’s steering-related fees went beyond what the DMA permits. That is the €430 million steering decision under Article 5(4).
The Commission has not prohibited Google from charging a fee for the initial customer it introduces through Google Play. The infringement is the fee level and the charging period, not the existence of a fee. Each decision includes a cease-and-desist order: Google must bring the conduct to an end within 60 days or face periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of its average daily worldwide turnover under Article 31. The Commission set the fines under Article 30, which allows up to 10% of total worldwide turnover, by reference to the gravity and duration of the past non-compliance.
The Commission’s stance on future conduct is more cooperative than the fine alone implies. The Commission recorded that Google has proposed and started testing changes to how it presents free services such as shopping, hotels and flights on Search, which the Commission called substantial progress, and that it is still assessing Google’s changes to shopping ads and content-related results such as sports. The Commission continues its dialogue with Google on how the ranking obligation applies to AI Overviews and AI Mode, and on Google’s revised steering terms. The Commission has fined Google for the past infringement; the remedy is still being negotiated.
The CMA is pursuing the same rules by a different route
The two behaviours the Commission has now fined are the same two the Competition and Markets Authority is pursuing in the United Kingdom, through the Strategic Market Status regime in Part 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The CMA proposed conduct requirements on 30 June 2026 restricting how Google and Apple limit the way app developers steer customers to cheaper channels; the CMA steering conduct requirements are covered separately on this site. The Commission’s own next step on Google’s Android and search-data obligations, the specification decisions of 16 July 2026, is covered in a separate note on the DMA specification decisions on Google.
The instruments differ in design and tempo. The DMA imposes per-se obligations on designated gatekeepers and the Commission enforces them directly, with fines available from the day of designation. Under the UK regime, the CMA imposes bespoke conduct requirements under section 19 of the DMCC Act 2024 after an SMS designation, and its steering requirements are still at consultation. The CMA holds a comparable penalty power: under section 85 it may fine an undertaking for breaching a conduct requirement, up to 10% of worldwide turnover. It has not yet used that power against a designated firm. The Commission and the CMA are imposing the same limits on self-preferencing and steering; they differ in speed and in legal mechanism. Bratby Law advises firms facing live UK and EU digital-markets investigations; the investigations and enforcement support page has the detail.
Viewpoint
The Commission fined Google for the past infringement period while openly negotiating the forward fix, and it treated Google’s testing of changes as progress rather than compliance. Cooperation reduced the fine. It did not undo the infringement that has already run. Firms watching the UK regime should take the Google EU DMA fine as a direct signal: the CMA is developing the same requirements on self-preferencing and steering under the DMCC Act 2024, and the EU decisions are a preview of what enforcement under that regime could look like once the CMA’s steering conduct requirements are finalised. AI is the open question. The Commission has left how the ranking obligation applies to AI Overviews and AI Mode for continuing dialogue, and it is on AI that the Commission and the CMA will each have to draw the next line.
Key findings (European Commission, 23 July 2026)
- The Commission imposed total fines of €890 million on Google in two non-compliance decisions under the Digital Markets Act. Source: European Commission press release IP/26/1670.
- The Commission fined Google €460 million under Article 6(5) for self-preferencing on Google Search, favouring its own shopping, hotel, transport and sports results. Source: European Commission, 23 July 2026.
- The Commission fined Google €430 million under Article 5(4) for restricting steering on Google Play, limiting how developers promote cheaper offers off-platform. Source: European Commission, 23 July 2026.
- Google must comply within 60 days or face periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of average daily worldwide turnover under Article 31. Source: European Commission, 23 July 2026.
| Decision | Conduct | DMA provision | Fine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Search | Self-preferencing own shopping, hotel, transport and sports results in ranking | Article 6(5) | €460 million |
| Google Play | Restricting how developers steer customers to cheaper off-platform offers; fee level and duration | Article 5(4) | €430 million |
| Total | Two non-compliance decisions, cease-and-desist within 60 days | Articles 30 and 31 | €890 million |
Frequently asked questions
Is the Google DMA fine the first penalty under the Digital Markets Act?
No. The Commission imposed its first DMA fines in April 2025, on Apple and Meta. The 23 July 2026 decisions are the first fines the Commission has imposed on Google under the Digital Markets Act, totalling €890 million across a self-preferencing decision on Google Search and a steering decision on Google Play.
What must Google do now?
Google must bring both practices to an end within 60 days. It must rank third-party services on a fair and non-discriminatory basis against its own, and it must let developers on Google Play communicate, promote and conclude deals with customers both inside and outside the Play Store. If it does not, it risks periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of its average daily worldwide turnover under Article 31.
How does the UK approach compare?
The CMA is pursuing the same self-preferencing and steering conduct through Strategic Market Status conduct requirements under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Its steering requirements were proposed on 30 June 2026 and remain at consultation. The CMA can fine for breach of a conduct requirement under section 85, up to 10% of worldwide turnover, but has not yet done so against a designated firm.
For advice on how the EU Digital Markets Act or the UK Strategic Market Status regime applies to your business, contact Rob Bratby at Bratby Law.
