Google Search is about to look different in Europe, and Google says users won't like it.
The European Commission fined Google €890 million ($1 billion) on Thursday for breaking the Digital Markets Act — the EU's rulebook governing how the largest online platforms treat rivals — and handed the company a 60-day deadline to change how it ranks results and how it manages developers on Google Play. It is the first time Google has been penalized under the law.
The penalty splits into two parts. Regulators fined Google €460 million ($524.7 million) for self-preferencing, the practice of surfacing its own hotel, shopping, and transport results above competing services. According to the Commission, Google pinned those units to the top of the results page and dressed them up with richer visuals and filter controls that rivals never got.
A second €430 million ($490 million) covers anti-steering rules on Google Play, where developers were blocked from telling users about cheaper deals available outside the store or signing them up through third-party channels. The Commission said the amounts reflect the seriousness and longevity of the violations, though it credited Google for already testing fixes.
Google is not conceding. Global affairs president Kent Walker called the outcome "product degradation driven by a small group of self-serving complainants," arguing compliance forces the company to pull real-time pricing and availability for hotels, flights, and restaurants out of Search, and to loosen safety controls on Play.
The financial sting is modest — Alphabet booked $403 billion in revenue in 2025 — but the timing is not. Google recently lost its appeal against a $4.5 billion EU fine over Android, and President Donald Trump has threatened steep additional tariffs on European goods if American tech firms are punished.
For readers in the EU, the practical takeaway lands inside two months: expect thinner in-Search booking widgets, and expect Android apps to start pointing you off-platform for subscriptions. Developers shipping to EU users should begin reviewing Play's external purchase policies now rather than waiting until the deadline passes.