Google fined by EU for unfair search engine practices, extending Big Tech antitrust crackdown

The European Union has hit Google with another antitrust fine, this time for unfairly boosting its own services in areas like shopping, travel, and games by displaying them more prominently at the top of search results. The penalty lands on top of an already towering pile of EU fines against Alphabet, Google’s parent company, that now stretches well into the billions.

Back in 2017, the EU slapped Google with a €2.42 billion fine for self-preferencing its shopping comparison service. That case established the legal principle that dominant platforms can’t use their position to give their own products an unfair advantage over competitors.

Then came the Android antitrust case, which dragged on for eight years before the EU’s top court upheld a record €4.125 billion fine on July 2, 2026. That figure was actually reduced from €4.34 billion following appeals.

Alphabet shares dipped approximately 1% in premarket trading following the July ruling.

The Digital Markets Act changes everything

Under the DMA, companies designated as “gatekeepers” face prescriptive rules about how they can operate. Self-preferencing is explicitly prohibited. The fines under the DMA can reach up to 10% of a company’s global annual turnover, which for Alphabet would dwarf anything we’ve seen so far.

Why crypto should be paying attention

There are no mentions of cryptocurrency or blockchain in any of the Google antitrust proceedings. The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, known as MiCA, already establishes a framework for regulating digital asset service providers.

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