Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
If your business relies on Google Shopping, local SEO, or Google Ads campaigns, this is news you can’t afford to ignore: the search engine’s appearance is going to change noticeably in the coming weeks—and with it, the rules of the game for ranking at the top.
In this article, we explain exactly what has happened, what Google is required by law to change, and, most importantly, what you should monitor and adjust in your SEO and Google Ads strategy during this process.
What has the European Commission decided?
The penalty, announced on July 23, 2026, consists of two separate fines for violating the DMA:
- 460 million euros for giving preferential treatment to its own services (such as Google Shopping, Google Flights, and hotel and sports results) over those of its competitors in search results.
- 430 million euros for restricting Google Play app developers, preventing them from informing their users about and directing them to cheaper alternative offers outside the app store.
This is the first time Google has been fined under the DMA, and it is the highest fine imposed to date under this European regulation. Google has 60 days to rectify both practices; if it fails to do so, it faces daily penalty payments of up to 5% of its average global revenue—enough economic pressure to force real and rapid changes, not just cosmetic ones.
What exactly needs to change in Google Search
According to the Commission, the crux of the problem is that Google gave greater visibility to its own vertical services—shopping, hotels, transportation, sports results—over third-party services offering the same things. The required remedy means that Google must display these results more fairly, without automatically promoting its own tools over competing comparison sites, travel agencies, or e-commerce platforms.
Google has already begun testing changes to how it displays these results, which means that in the coming weeks, you’ll likely see variations in:
- The placement and format of Google Shopping carousels.
- The presence of Google’s own widgets (flights, hotels, live sports scores) versus organic links from third parties.
- Potentially, more space reclaimed for “traditional” organic results in categories previously dominated by Google’s own modules.
What Needs to Change on Google Play
Although this has less of a direct impact on SEO, it’s relevant if your business has an app: Google must allow developers to freely inform their users about cheaper offers outside the Play Store and stop imposing restrictions or fees that hinder such redirection. Whether you manage your own app or a client’s, this change opens up the possibility of offering alternative purchasing options without the current limitations.
What Does This Mean for Your SEO?
- Keep a close eye on your Search Console over the next few weeks. Any Europe-wide SERP redesign may temporarily affect the CTR and impressions of pages competing in the affected categories (shopping, travel, sporting events, price comparison sites).
- If you’re competing against Google Shopping or Google Flights with your own e-commerce site or price comparison site, this is potentially the best time in years to gain organic visibility in those categories: regulatory pressure is working in your favor.
- Don’t make any drastic decisions just yet. Google has stated that these changes are already in the testing phase; it makes sense to wait and see how the SERP actually behaves in your industry before restructuring your content or campaigns based solely on theory.
- Document the “before” situation: take screenshots and export current data on rankings and CTR in the categories that may be affected (shopping, local, travel). This will serve as a reference for measuring the actual impact once the change is implemented.
What Does This Mean for Your Google Ads Campaigns?
- If you invest in Shopping Ads, it’s reasonable to expect some changes in how ads compete with third-party organic results—it’s worth reviewing performance by category over the next two months rather than assuming that current trends will continue.
- Brands that rely on price comparison sites or aggregators (travel, events, retail) should take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen their organic presence, as the regulatory adjustment reduces the structural advantage Google had with its own verticals.
- If you manage ad budgets for clients in the travel, hotel, or sports events industries, now is a good time to review the mix between ad spending and SEO/comparison site efforts, since the balance of organic visibility may shift in your favor.
Background: This isn’t the first time Google has faced off against the EU
This is not an isolated penalty. Google had already definitively lost its appeal against a previous antitrust fine of 4.1 billion euros related to Android, which was upheld by the Court of Justice of the European Union. In addition, a Swedish court had previously ordered Google to pay approximately 1.7 billion euros in damages to a price comparison site for similar conduct involving self-preferencing in search results.
The pattern is clear: Europe has been pressuring Google for years to treat third-party services fairly within its search engine, and this fine is the most forceful enforcement of that pressure to date under the specific framework of the DMA.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is the European Union regulation that governs large technology platforms (“gatekeepers”) to ensure fair competition, requiring them not to favor their own services over those of third parties on their platforms.
Google has 60 days from the July 23, 2026, decision to implement the changes, although the company has already begun testing different ways of presenting certain results.
Not immediately or automatically, but it can indirectly affect the performance of your campaigns if you’re competing in categories where Google previously displayed its own services more prominently (shopping, travel, sports).
Don’t rush into it. It’s best to closely monitor SERP performance in your industry over the next few weeks and adjust your strategy based on actual data, not just on expectations of change.
This is the first penalty specifically imposed under the DMA, but not Google’s first antitrust penalty in the European Union; the company had already been fined on several previous occasions for similar self-preferencing practices.
Conclusion
This fine isn’t just a story about tech regulation—it’s a clear sign that the playing field in Google Search and Google Ads is going to shift in the coming weeks, especially if you compete in shopping, travel, or sports results. The practical recommendation is simple: document your current situation, closely monitor changes in your industry’s SERP, and get ready to take advantage of the space that Google will be forced to cede to third-party results.
Would you like us to analyze how this change might affect your specific visibility on Google Shopping or your local SEO? At Inprofit, we actively monitor these regulatory changes for our e-commerce and SEO clients.
Especialista en SEO y Paid Media | Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads & Search Console en vena Optimizo visibilidad orgánica + escalo adquisición pagada con ROAS obsesivo y estrategias data-driven.
Especialista en Performance Digital, Core Web Vitals, E-E-A-T, algoritmos de subasta, attribution multi-touch y maximizar LTV/CAC.
