Google has a long history of disputes with European regulators, having previously received billions of euros in fines over separate competition cases.
EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said companies should succeed because of the quality of their products – rather than their market position.
“The best products should succeed because they’re better, not because they’re owned by the company running the search engine,” she said.
EU tech boss Henna Virkkunen echoed those thoughts.
“After this decision, we want to make sure that there is more competition and also other companies are able to innovate,” she said.
Zach Meyers, director of research at the Centre on Regulation in Europe, noted a delay in the competition authority finalising its decision against Google, telling the BBC it was likely driven “by a desire not to upset EU-US relations”.
As US president Donald Trump has frequently threatened or imposed new tariffs, however, the Commission came to see its efforts as futile and went ahead with the fine.
“It reflects a growing view among EU officials that the US president’s unpredictability and unwillingness to comply with his own deals means that the EU has little to gain by treading softly – and potentially a lot to lose in terms of regulatory credibility,” Meyers said.
Google now has 60 days to comply with the regulations – or challenge them by taking the Commission to court.
