Less than a week after Brussels handed Google its first Digital Markets Act penalty, the company’s competitors are already turning the ruling into ammunition.
The European Commission fined Google €890mn on 23 July, roughly $1bn at current rates, and the rivals who have spent years chasing the search giant through European courts now see the infringement finding as fresh leverage in a fast-growing pile of private damages claims.
The fine itself splits into €460mn for favouring Google’s own shopping results over those of competitors and €430mn for stopping app developers from steering users away from Google Play.
It was the penalty Brussels had spent months preparing, and it lands on a company already carrying a record €4.1bn Android fine and more than €10bn in earlier European antitrust penalties.
The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!What makes the decision valuable to rivals is not the money going to Brussels but the precedent going into their own cases.
