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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesShort answer: Apple Maps and Apple Ads are not EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) gatekeeper services. Apple notified the European Commission on November 27, 2025 that the services met relevant quantitative thresholds, but the Commission accepted Apple’s rebuttal on February 5, 2026, finding that neither service was an important gateway for businesses to reach consumers. Apple remains a DMA gatekeeper for the App Store, iOS, Safari and iPadOS.
What happened
The original possibility was genuine but is now outdated. Apple’s November 2025 notification started the Commission’s designation review. The Commission had 45 working days after receiving complete information to decide whether either service should be designated. Designation would have started a six-month period for complying with the obligations applicable to that service.
On February 5, 2026, the Commission decided not to designate either Apple Maps or Apple Ads and did not open a market investigation. It said both services failed the substantive “important gateway” condition in Article 3(1)(b) of the DMA, despite the threshold issues raised in the notification. The Commission published a non-confidential decision summary in the Official Journal on April 15, 2026.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| September 5, 2023 | The Commission designated Apple for the App Store, iOS and Safari. |
| April 29, 2024 | iPadOS was added to Apple’s designated core platform services. |
| November 27, 2025 | Apple notified the Commission about Apple Maps and Apple Ads. |
| February 5, 2026 | The Commission rejected designation for both services and accepted Apple’s rebuttal without opening a market investigation. |
| April 15, 2026 | The non-confidential decision summary appeared in the Official Journal. |
Sources: Commission designation decision, Apple notification, Commission outcome and the Official Journal notice.
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How DMA gatekeeper designation works
The DMA designates particular core platform services, not an entire company by default. Article 3(1) requires the Commission to assess whether the undertaking has a significant impact on the EU internal market, whether the service is an important gateway for business users to reach end users, and whether the undertaking has an entrenched and durable position or is expected to have one soon.
Article 3(2) creates rebuttable presumptions when numerical conditions are met:
| Condition | DMA presumption |
|---|---|
| Company scale | At least €7.5 billion in EU turnover in each of the previous three financial years, or at least €75 billion average market capitalization or equivalent fair market value in the last financial year. |
| Geographic reach | The service is supplied in at least three EU Member States. |
| End users | More than 45 million monthly active end users in the EU. |
| Business users | More than 10,000 yearly active EU business users in each of the previous three financial years. |
These figures create presumptions; they do not make designation automatic. Under Article 3(5), a company can submit a substantiated rebuttal showing that the service does not satisfy the underlying Article 3(1) criteria. The Apple decision illustrates why the legal test is more than a user-count exercise.
See the Digital Markets Act regulation for the statutory criteria, review deadlines and rebuttal process.
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What Apple told the Commission
Apple Maps
The Commission’s decision summary says Apple notified that Apple Maps met all of the Article 3(2) quantitative thresholds. Apple nevertheless argued that Maps was not an important gateway through which businesses reach consumers.
For DMA purposes, Apple Maps is treated as an online intermediation service. Businesses whose listings, locations or local visibility appear in a mapping service could be business users, but the public decision does not provide a business-by-business breakdown or disclose every underlying usage figure.
Apple Ads
Apple Ads is treated as an online advertising service. Apple notified that it met the market-capitalization and end-user threshold conditions while disputing whether it met the yearly active business-user threshold. Apple also argued that Apple Ads was not an important gateway for businesses to reach consumers.
This classification concerns the Apple Ads service examined in the DMA proceeding. It does not automatically cover every advertising placement or product Apple may offer, and it should not be read as a general finding about Apple’s advertising conduct.
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The Commission’s public decision is a non-confidential summary, so exact market shares, user counts and internal business-user totals are not all available.
Why the Commission rejected designation
Apple Maps: relatively low EU usage
The Commission cited Apple Maps’ relatively low overall usage in the European Union. Its conclusion was specific: Maps was not an important gateway for business users to reach end users under the DMA. That is narrower than saying Apple Maps has no substantial users, revenue or competitive relevance.
Apple Ads: limited EU advertising scale
For Apple Ads, the Commission pointed to the service’s very limited scale in the EU online-advertising sector. Again, this was a finding about the statutory gateway test, not a declaration that Apple Ads is commercially insignificant in every context.
Because the Commission accepted Apple’s rebuttal, it did not open a market investigation in this designation proceeding. It also said it would continue monitoring both services and could reassess them if market conditions change substantially.
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Sources: Commission decision announcement and the public decision summary.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What would designation have changed?
If either service had been designated, Apple would have faced the DMA obligations applicable to that particular core platform service after the six-month implementation period. Depending on the service and the relevant provisions, those duties could have included:
- Restrictions on self-preferencing and discriminatory treatment.
- Fairer access conditions for business users.
- Limits on combining or using data from different services in specified circumstances.
- Restrictions on using non-public business-user data to compete with those users.
- Interoperability or access requirements where the DMA provision applies.
- Additional transparency, reporting and compliance obligations.
The exact obligations would not necessarily have been identical for an online intermediation service and an online advertising service. The Commission’s decision means there are no new Maps- or Ads-specific DMA obligations arising from this designation process.
The Commission’s general explanation of the framework is available in its DMA overview.
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What the decision means for Apple’s existing DMA duties
Apple did not leave the DMA and was not granted a company-wide exemption. As of August 18, 2026, the Commission’s Gatekeepers Portal lists Apple’s App Store, iOS, Safari and iPadOS as designated core platform services. Compliance duties, investigations and enforcement involving those services are unaffected by the Maps and Ads decision.
The decision also does not clear Apple’s advertising practices generally, prevent future action under other EU laws, or establish that Apple Maps and Apple Ads can never qualify. The Commission can revisit the services if they become more important gateways for business users.
Check the Gatekeepers Portal for the current designated-service list.
Why this case matters
The case shows the difference between a numerical threshold and a legal designation. A service may trigger the DMA’s presumptions yet avoid designation when the company successfully demonstrates that it does not perform the required gateway role. It also shows why headlines must distinguish between Apple as a designated gatekeeper and individual Apple services that were considered but not added to the designation.
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