The European Union imposed a AED 3,72,32,26,000 (around Rs 9,796 crore) fine on Google for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The European Commission issued two separate penalties. This comes after the technology giant favoured its own services in Google Search and restricted app developers from directing users to alternative purchase channels on Google Play.
The European Commission fined Google for its search activities to an amount of AED 3,72,32,26,000. It is claimed that the company favoured its own products over those of other competing companies in categories such as shopping, hotel, transport and sport information.
The DMA states that it is prohibited for gatekeepers to rank their services higher than competing products. In particular, it is mentioned that Google favoured its own products by giving prominence and better visual representation.
It should be noted that the above decision undermines the very essence of Google's activities. Google search plays a major role in determining user's decisions. The second penalty relates to Google Play's restrictions on app developers. The DMA requires platforms to allow businesses to inform users about alternative offers and direct them to cheaper purchasing options outside the platform.
The European Commission has directed Google to cease all such non-compliant activities. This may compel Google to further change the way in which it promotes its services on search engine results and the way in which developers convey the availability of other purchasing options.
The case also highlights the wider impact of the DMA. The act aims to prevent dominant technology platforms from using their scale to disadvantage competitors.The law gives regulators stronger powers to impose changes before anti-competitive practices become entrenched.
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