EU may fine Google hundreds of millions over search bias

The European Commission is preparing possible fines in the high hundreds of millions of euros after a probe found Google may have given preferential placement to its own services in search results. The investigation centers on whether Google breached the Digital Markets Act by favoring its shopping, hotels, finance and other services in search listings.

The Commission opened preliminary proceedings last year and sent its initial findings to Google, accusing the company of privileging its own offerings. Google was invited to respond and propose remedies. Officials granted Google extra time earlier this month to develop a workable fix after earlier proposals failed to satisfy the regulator.

Reports indicate the Commission could impose fines if the company and regulators cannot reach a settlement. An EC spokesperson, Thomas Regnier, warned regulators prefer compliance over punishment but said enforcement action will follow if necessary. “Even with our negotiations on future solutions, we will not hesitate to move to the next steps as soon as possible,” Regnier said.

Google has argued it already made substantial changes to its search product and has defended its behavior in legal filings. In its appeal in the United States, Google wrote, “Competition produces winners and losers. And sometimes a firm — by innovating better, investing more, or just working harder — will leave its rivals behind.” The company contends a U.S. judge made legal errors and that user preference for its search stems from technical performance.

The EU action runs alongside Google’s appeal of a 2024 U.S. antitrust ruling that found the company a monopolist over search agreements, including large payments to rivals to remain the default provider on devices. U.S. remedies ordered by the court include sharing certain search data with competitors and other constraints; Google has appealed those remedies.

If imposed, any fine would be the largest under the 2022 Digital Markets Act so far. Google has faced larger fines from EU competition authorities in the past, including €2.4 billion over shopping in 2017, €4.3 billion over Android in 2018, €1.4 billion in an online advertising case the same year, and a €2.95 billion fine last year from an adtech probe. The Commission has also opened an inquiry into Google’s use of online content to train artificial intelligence.

Alphabet, Google’s parent, reported profit above $132 billion on more than $400 billion in revenue last year. Google recently introduced major changes to its search product that increase the integration of artificial intelligence into results and presentation.

The company now faces parallel regulatory processes in Europe and the United States that could affect how it displays search results and shares data with rivals.