Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on February 21, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
Google is facing EU charges for breaching Big Tech rules, focusing on favoritism in search results and potential fines up to 10% of global revenue.
By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Alphabet unit Google is set to be charged with breaching EU rules aimed at checking the power of Big Tech after proposed changes to its search results failed to address EU antitrust regulator's concerns and those of their rivals, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The European Commission has been investigating Google for potential breaches of the Digital Markets Act since March last year.
One probe focuses on whether Google favours its vertical search engines such as Google Shopping, Google Flights and Google Hotels over rivals, and whether it discriminates against third-party services on Google search results.
The imminent charges concerned this issue, the people said.
The EU competition watchdog declined to comment. Google referred to a December blog post by its director, EMEA competition, Oliver Bethell, who said the company is working to find a balanced solution with the Commission.
Bethell said more changes in Google's search result format to appease rivals could result in the removal of certain helpful features.
The U.S. tech giant has in recent months announced a series of changes to search result formats in a bid to address conflicting demands from price-comparison sites, hotels, airlines and small retailers. The majority of them have dismissed the proposals as not DMA-compliant.
EU antitrust regulators are also not happy with Google's threat to bring back blue links in search results if it cannot resolve rivals' demands, one of the sources said.
The DMA prohibits Google from favouring its own products and services on its platforms or face fines of as much as 10% of its global annual revenue.
The DMA charges are likely to be sent to Google following decisions in the coming months into separate investigations into Apple and Meta Platforms, which are more advanced, one of the sources said.
The other DMA investigation into Google takes aim at potential limitations that hinder app developers from informing users about offers outside the Google App Store free of charge.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
Google is set to be charged with breaching EU rules designed to regulate Big Tech, particularly concerning its search results and potential favoritism towards its own services.
The Digital Markets Act prohibits Google from favoring its own products and services on its platforms, with potential fines of up to 10% of its global annual revenue for violations.
Google's recent changes to its search result formats aim to address demands from various sectors, but regulators are concerned that these changes may remove helpful features for users.
The European Commission has been investigating Google for potential breaches of the Digital Markets Act since March of the previous year.
In addition to Google, the EU is also conducting separate investigations into Apple and Meta Platforms, which are at a more advanced stage.
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