European Union: Announced European Commission investigation into Alphabet regarding its alleged self-preferencing on Google Search under the Digital Markets Act

On 25 March 2024, the European Commission opened an investigation into Alphabet concerning its self-preferencing on Google Search and its compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The investigation concerns Art. 6(5) of the DMA, which states that the ranking of services and products offered by a gatekeeper and its rivals shall not be in favour of the gatekeeper. The Commission’s focus lies on the measures that Alphabet implemented in order to ensure that third-party services are treated in a fair and non-discriminatory way compared to Alphabet’s own services. Specifically, this concerns the display of Google search results in relation to its own vertical search services, such as Google Shopping, Google Flights or Google Hotels. The Commission aims to conclude the investigation within 12 months.