On Thursday, July 23rd, 2026, the European Commission imposed two fines totaling $1 billion on Google for violating digital antitrust regulations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The Commission found that Google configured its search engine and Google Play Store to encourage consumers to purchase Google’s own services, unfairly promoting its shopping, hotel, transport, and sports services in search results while restricting other app developers' ability to advertise and complete purchases outside Google Play.

As part of the enforcement, Google must now "treat third-party services that feature on Google's search results in a fair and non-discriminatory manner" and allow app developers to distribute their apps via Google Play "both technically and contractually, to freely communicate, promote offers and conclude contracts with users not only within but also outside the Google Play app store."

Teresa Ribera, executive vice president for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition at the European Commission, stated, "Google has fallen short of effective compliance with the Digital Markets Act, and today we have taken decisive yet balanced enforcement action sanctioning these breaches."

The DMA, effective since May 2023, aims to "make the markets in the digital sector fairer and more contestable" by regulating large digital platforms such as online search engines and app stores. It was drafted with 19 companies in mind, 16 of which are American.

These latest fines bring the total European Commission penalties against Google to nearly $12 billion over almost two decades, according to Reuters.

A 2025 White House memorandum warns that if a foreign government imposes "a fine, penalty, tax, or other burden" deemed "discriminatory" or "disproportionate," the U.S. administration "will act, imposing tariffs and taking such other responsive actions necessary to mitigate the harm to the United States and to repair any resulting imbalance." However, retaliatory tariffs could also negatively impact American consumers and may not deter European regulators from pursuing American tech companies.

Sources