The EU said Google’s practices limited consumer choice and gave its services an unfair advantage.

Regulators split the penalty into two parts: €460m for promoting Google’s flight and hotel booking services in search results, and €430m for Play Store rules that allegedly blocked users from seeing cheaper offers outside Google’s ecosystem.

Google criticised the decision, saying compliance would harm services used by millions of Europeans.

Kent Walker, the company’s president of global affairs, said: "To comply, we are having 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."

The European Commission rejected these arguments, stating the measures were necessary to prevent dominant platforms from disadvantaging competitors.

EU competition chief Teresa Ribera added: "The best products should succeed because they’re better, not because they’re owned by the company running the search engine."

Tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen echoed the call for a level playing field, emphasising that innovation must be allowed to flourish.

Analysts noted the timing of the decision reflected caution over EU-US relations.

Zach Meyers, director of research at the Centre on Regulation in Europe, told the BBC: "Delays in finalising this decision were likely driven by a desire not to upset transatlantic trade talks. But with the unpredictability of US policy, the Commission concluded regulatory credibility mattered more than diplomacy."

Google now has 60 days either to comply with the DMA regulations or challenge the fine in court.

The ruling marks the first major enforcement of the DMA, which aims to rein in the power of the world’s largest tech companies and prevent them from using platform dominance to stifle competition.

This action follows a long history of EU fines against Google over competition issues, with the Commission signalling a continued willingness to hold the tech giant accountable in Europe.