Google hit with $1 billion European Union fine: What lies behind Brussels' massive penalty?

In a decision likely to worsen tensions between Washington and the European Union, the bloc on Thursday fined Google a total of 890 million euros ( $1 billion) over two separate violations.

The European Union imposed a 460 million euro penalty on the US tech giant for allegedly giving an unfair advantage to its own services, including Google Flights and Google Hotels, in search results.

The EU issued the second fine of 430 million euros over Google's restrictions on app developers. The European Commission said the company did not allow developers to show consumers offers outside the Google Play Store without charge.

"After this decision, we want to make sure that there is more competition and also other companies can innovate," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said.

A senior EU official said Google "still" continued to favour its own services. However, the second penalty covered conduct between March 2024 and December 2025.

Google hit back at the EU decision, accusing the bloc of dismantling safety protections on Google Play.

The penalties come only days before the first anniversary of a tariff agreement between Washington and Brussels that helped ease trade tensions.

President Donald Trump's administration has previously accused the EU of unfairly targeting US technology companies. It has also threatened to respond with tariffs against the bloc.

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The combined fines mark the largest penalties imposed on a single company under the Digital Markets Act, or DMA. The EU previously fined Meta and Apple 200 million euros and 500 million euros, respectively, in 2025.

The DMA took effect in 2024 and aims to curb what the EU considers excessive practices by Big Tech companies while promoting fair competition in the digital sector.

Under the DMA, the EU can impose fines of up to 10 per cent of a company's total global turnover for violations. An EU official said the latest penalties represented 0.22 per cent of Google's turnover.

The penalties could increase if Google fails to comply within 60 days. The European Commission warned that the company could face "periodic penalty payments".

"The best products should succeed because they're better, not because they're owned by the company running the search engine," EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement.

Google responds

Google's head of global affairs, Kent Walker, criticised the EU decision and said the company was being forced to "strip away real-time Search features Europeans love, like instant pricing and direct availability for hotels, flights, and restaurants -- and dismantle safety protections on Google Play".

"This isn't fair competition," he added.