Fresh action against Google would show whether the Digital Markets Act is becoming a source of recurring behavioural pressure, rather than a one-off fining mechanism for Big Tech.
The European Commission is preparing further penalties against Google over its search and app-store rules, reviving a central question in EU digital policy: whether Brussels can force large platforms to change commercial behaviour quickly enough to make the Digital Markets Act matter in practice.
According to the Financial Times, the Commission is looking at two main areas. One concerns alleged self-preferencing in Google Search, where rival services have long argued that Google’s own products receive more prominent treatment. The other concerns Google Play rules that affect whether app developers can direct users towards alternative payment systems or purchasing channels.
Both issues sit at the heart of the DMA. The law was designed to prevent designated “gatekeepers” from using control over search, mobile operating systems, app stores and online advertising to lock in their own services. Under the Commission’s DMA framework, non-compliance can lead to fines of up to 10 per cent of worldwide turnover, with higher penalties possible for repeat infringements.
The significance of another Google case is not only the size of any fine. Brussels has already imposed major penalties on large technology companies, but the harder test is whether enforcement produces visible changes in ranking, payment systems and access terms. That is why the current Google file matters to developers, comparison services, travel platforms, shopping sites and publishers that rely on search visibility or mobile distribution.
The Commission has been under pressure from European lawmakers and smaller digital businesses to avoid slow enforcement. Recent parliamentary pressure for stronger DMA enforcement reflected frustration that legal obligations do not automatically create fairer market conditions if platform design remains largely unchanged.
Google has argued in previous DMA disputes that some required changes could reduce product quality or create worse user experiences in Europe. That defence is likely to remain central to the company’s case. The Commission, however, is increasingly focused on whether gatekeepers are offering formal compliance while preserving the commercial effects that the law was meant to prevent.
The Play Store element is especially sensitive because payment steering has become one of the most contested areas in platform regulation. Developers want to be able to tell users about cheaper or alternative purchasing routes. Gatekeepers argue that restrictions can protect security, prevent fraud and preserve investment in app-store infrastructure. Regulators must decide where legitimate platform control ends and anti-competitive restriction begins.
Search self-preferencing is the older battle, but the DMA changes the enforcement model. Traditional antitrust cases often moved slowly, with findings arriving years after market conditions had changed. The DMA gives Brussels a more direct tool to demand compliance from firms already designated as gatekeepers.
The current case also comes as Brussels continues to widen its digital enforcement agenda. Google has recently faced scrutiny over search choice, data access and its role in artificial intelligence distribution, while Apple and Meta have faced their own DMA-related fights. Earlier coverage of Google’s EU timetable noted that the Commission had given the company more time to answer digital markets concerns, but that extra time has not removed the underlying pressure.
For Europe’s digital economy, the question is whether enforcement will change incentives. If fines are treated by platforms as manageable regulatory costs, the DMA will struggle to open markets. If penalties are paired with concrete remedies, Brussels could reshape how search placement, app payments and mobile distribution operate across the bloc.
That is the real test of the next Google decision. The amount of the fine will draw attention, but the lasting impact will depend on whether developers and rivals see a different marketplace afterwards.
