The European Union on Thursday fined Google 890 million euros (1 billion US dollars), a move that could escalate tensions with the United States. The EU imposed a 460 million euro fine on the American tech giant for illegally favoring its own services — including Google Flights and Google Hotels — over competitors in search results.
A second fine of 430 million euros was levied by the European Commission because Google did not allow app developers to show users offers outside the Google Play store for free, according to the agency’s statement. “After this decision, we want to ensure fairer competition and the opportunity for other companies to innovate,” said the EU’s technology chief Henna Virkkunen.
Reasons for fines and Google’s reaction
A senior EU official noted that Google “still” continues to favor its own services, and the second fine covers the period from March 2024 to December 2025. Google stated that the EU is forcing the company to weaken protection mechanisms in Google Play. “Regulation should improve products, not make them worse,” said Kent Walker of Google.
These are the largest fines imposed on a single company under the Digital Markets Act (Digital Markets Act, DMA). The law came into force in 2024 and aims to curb the excessive influence of large tech companies and ensure fair competition in the digital sphere. Previously, in 2025, the EU fined Meta 200 million euros and Apple 500 million euros.
The fines against Google had been anticipated for months as part of an investigation launched in 2024. Brussels faced accusations of delaying this decision for fear of damaging relations with Washington. The EU can impose fines of up to 10 percent of a company’s total global turnover for violating the DMA. According to a second EU representative, the total amount of the fines represents only 0.22 percent of Google‘s turnover. If the company does not comply with the requirements within 60 days, the European Commission may impose additional financial sanctions.
The head of the EU’s competition department, Teresa Ribera, stated: “The best products should succeed because they are better, not because they belong to a company that runs the search engine.” Google criticized Brussels, arguing that the EU’s requirements force the company to degrade the quality of its services for users in Europe. Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google, noted that the company is being compelled to “remove real-time search features that Europeans love — such as instant price display and the ability to immediately view the availability of hotels, flights, and restaurants — as well as dismantle protective mechanisms in Google Play.”
Context and risks of escalating relations with the US
These fines were imposed just days before the first anniversary of the tariff agreement between Washington and Brussels, which had eased trade tensions. The administration of President Donald Trump previously accused Brussels of deliberately restricting American tech companies and threatened to respond to the EU with tariffs.
Google is no stranger to EU fines. From 2017 to 2019, the company was fined a total of 8.2 billion euros. In September of last year, Brussels also imposed a separate fine of 2.95 billion euros for other antitrust violations, after which Trump threatened retaliatory measures against the EU. Meanwhile, Brussels remained calm regarding the possible US reaction on Thursday.
The EU’s duty is to ensure compliance with the rules adopted by its sovereign institutions, said Ribera. She added that similar cases are being considered in the United States, where American regulators are also taking action. The EU and the US agreed this year to resolve disputes over digital rules through negotiations, but those discussions have yet to begin. About 25 American legislators from Trump‘s Republican Party, in a letter published on Tuesday, urged the president to take action against the EU’s “discriminatory” digital rules, including trade investigations that could lead to higher tariffs. Henna Virkkunen emphasized that Europe will not back down from enforcing its rules. “We are very committed to our rules,” she said.
