The European Commission has launched new investigations against Apple, Google and Meta :: IT :: www.technologijos.lt

The EC suspects that Google Play is violating anti-advertising rules in its app store, and that Google Search continues to “inherently favor” Alphabet’s services in its search results. Apple faces a similar charge of controlling the App Store, but the EC also believes it is circumventing requirements to allow users to choose default apps. Finally, Meta’s ad-free subscription model could be a pay-or-take scheme that aims to avoid user privacy violations.

“We suspect that the solutions proposed by the three companies are not fully in line with the DMA,” said Margrethe Vestager, Commission Vice-President responsible for competition policy. “We will now look at companies’ compliance with the DMA to ensure open and competitive European digital markets.”

The EC ordered the companies to “keep certain documents” so it can review them and determine whether they are complying with the law. In addition, Amazon and Microsoft received documents retention orders, but were not investigated by the Commission. Bytedance seems to be the only company not under the microscope.

Interestingly, the EC has shown interest in Facebook’s ad-free subscription offering. Under this model, users can pay a fee to opt out of advertising on Facebook and Instagram. Meta initially charged €9.99 per month (more when subscribing through Apple or Google). Reuters notes that after the fee was caught by the EC, Meta’s director of competition and regulation, Tim Lamb, told the Commission that they would reduce the fees to €5.99. However, this study and the comments of EC Commissioner Thierry Breton show that 40% discount may not be sufficient.

“The DMA is very clear: companies must obtain users’ consent to use their personal data across services,” Breton said in a separate statement. “And this consent must be free!”

The research comes as no surprise since competitors have been complaining since the beginning of the year about the efforts of the tech giants (notably Apple) to enforce DMA compliance policies. The EC expects the investigations to be completed within 12 months.