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Google’s call for an EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) “reset” was a request to reconsider how the law is applied—not an official European Union plan to repeal or rewrite it. Google says compliance has made some Search features less useful, hurt businesses, and created privacy and security risks. As of August 18, 2026, the European Commission has moved toward more detailed enforcement, not a broad reset: it issued binding measures on Android AI interoperability and Search-data sharing, then fined Google €890 million over separate findings involving Search self-preferencing and Google Play steering.
What Google meant by a DMA “reset”
The phrase came from a September 25, 2025 article by Thurrott, which characterized Google’s position as a call for an EU DMA reset. Google senior director of competition Oliver Bethell argued that the law was causing “significant and unintended harm,” particularly for European users and small businesses. Google’s broader position is that regulators should assess the effects of compliance and adjust how obligations are implemented when they undermine usefulness, competition, privacy, or security.
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That is a policy argument, not a formal EU initiative. The available public account establishes a call to rethink implementation, but not a specific legal proposal to amend the DMA or a Commission-backed reform package. The original framing is in Thurrott’s September 25, 2025 report.
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The DMA is an EU framework intended to make digital markets more contestable and fair by placing obligations on large platforms designated as “gatekeepers.” Its first major compliance deadline was March 6, 2024, as Google’s DMA information page notes. Alphabet was designated for several core platform services, including Google Search, Google Play, Android, Chrome, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Shopping, and advertising-related services. The rules attach to designated services, however; they do not apply identically to every Google product.
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Depending on the service and obligation, the DMA addresses issues such as self-preferencing, interoperability, data use, app distribution, steering users to other purchase options, and switching between services. The gatekeeper designations and covered services are set out in the European Commission’s designation decision.
What Google says has gone wrong
Search features and direct business links
Google says DMA compliance required more than 20 Search modifications and the removal or redesign of some features. It has pointed to changes affecting travel and local results, including flights, hotels, maps, and links to businesses. In Google’s view, rules intended to prevent its own services from receiving preferential treatment can make Search less useful and send users through comparison sites or other intermediaries instead of directly to an airline, hotel, or local business.
Google also argues that intermediary sites may charge businesses for inclusion or earn commissions, potentially adding costs or diverting traffic from smaller businesses. These are Google’s claims about likely effects, not an established finding that the DMA has raised prices or harmed businesses overall. Google’s account of its changes appears in its November 26, 2024 compliance update and its earlier explanation of trade-offs.
Prices and consumer choice
Google’s economic argument is that less direct access to providers could mean more reliance on intermediaries, which might charge fees or offer a less direct route to a purchase. The outcome depends on what users choose, how intermediaries compete, and whether businesses pass any costs along. The available evidence does not establish a general price increase caused by the DMA.
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Privacy and security
Google has separately objected to requirements involving Android capabilities and Search data. It says broader access for outside AI assistants could expose sensitive context or powerful device functions, and that sharing Search data could create privacy and commercial-confidentiality risks. In its July 16, 2026 response, Google called for implementation that weighs those risks against competition benefits (Google’s statement on privacy and security).
Those are Google’s objections, not a finding that the Commission’s requirements are unsafe. Nor did the Commission order unrestricted disclosure of every user’s raw search history: its July measures specify data sharing under conditions and safeguards. The precise technical details should be read in the Commission’s published decision materials, rather than inferred from the shorthand phrase “share search data.”
Why the Commission disagrees
The Commission’s position is that gatekeepers can use control over important platforms to favor their own services or make it harder for rivals to compete. In its view, obligations on Search, Android, and Google Play are meant to open routes to users and infrastructure that competitors may need—not to guarantee a rival’s success or remove every distinction between Google’s products and third-party services.
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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 glitchesThe Commission’s 2026 proceedings and measures concern specified obligations under the existing DMA. They are not, by themselves, a rewrite of the law. The distinction matters: the statute creates the obligation, the Commission interprets and specifies how it applies, and enforcement can follow if the Commission finds non-compliance.
What changed in 2026
January 27: proceedings on Android and Search data
The Commission opened proceedings to specify how Google must comply with Android interoperability requirements under Article 6(7) and obligations to provide specified Search data to competing search engines. The Android issue included access to capabilities used by Google’s own AI services, including Gemini. The Commission described the proceedings in its January 27 announcement.
April 27: proposed Android interoperability measures
The Commission sought feedback on proposed measures covering functions such as invoking third-party AI assistants, custom wake words, system-wide access points such as a long press on the home button or navigation handle, and contextual information needed for on-screen assistance. The consultation closed May 13, 2026; the consultation page records its scope. The Commission also outlined the proposal in its April 27 notice.
July 16: binding specification measures
The Commission issued binding measures covering interoperability between qualifying third-party AI services and Android, as well as sharing specified Google Search data with competing search engines. It said the aim was to let rivals compete with Google’s AI services, including Gemini, and with Google Search, while applying technical and privacy safeguards. The Commission’s July 16 announcement describes the measures; its related guidance notice provides additional context.
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One week later, the Commission fined Google €890 million after finding DMA breaches involving self-preferencing in Search and restrictions on Google Play developers steering users to alternative purchase channels. This was a separate enforcement action, not a penalty for asking for a reset. The Commission’s fine announcement sets out the findings.
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Who could benefit, and who may bear costs?
The effects are not automatic. Access to a platform feature or data does not ensure that a rival can build a viable service, meet security requirements, or attract users. Nor does the ability to steer a customer to another payment channel guarantee a lower price: payment processing, taxes, subscriptions, and other costs still matter.
| Group | Potential benefit | Possible cost or uncertainty |
|---|---|---|
| Search users | More alternatives to Google services or comparison routes. | Some integrated Search features may change; the net effect on usefulness and prices is not established. |
| Android users | More choice among AI assistants if providers qualify and adopt the available capabilities. | Additional access requires security controls; the user experience may vary by provider and device. |
| App developers and subscribers | More ability for developers to direct users to alternative purchase channels. | Alternative billing does not itself ensure lower prices or remove other transaction costs. |
| Businesses, including hotels and local firms | Potentially more routes to customers beyond Google’s own services. | Traffic may shift among direct links, comparison services, and intermediaries; fees and outcomes can vary. |
| Search and AI competitors | Specified Search data and Android interoperability may help improve services or reach users. | Access is governed by conditions and does not guarantee product quality, adoption, or commercial viability. |
How to judge whether a reset is warranted
The practical question is not simply whether the DMA helps or harms. It is whether each remedy addresses a demonstrated competitive problem proportionately, and whether its effects can be measured without creating unacceptable privacy or security risks. Useful tests include:
- Consumer usefulness: Did a change remove preferential placement, or did it also remove information users found valuable?
- Competition: Did comparison sites, search engines, and AI assistants gain meaningful access and users?
- Business impact: Did small businesses receive more direct traffic, lose it, or incur new intermediary costs?
- Prices: Is there evidence that routing or payment changes affect what consumers pay?
- Privacy and security: Can data and Android capabilities be shared with effective access controls, safeguards, and limits?
- Proportionality and enforceability: Are obligations narrowly tied to the competitive concern, and can compliance be assessed against clear requirements?
- Innovation: Do the rules encourage alternative services, or discourage useful integration?
A direct link can be convenient while also giving a platform an advantage over intermediaries. A third-party AI assistant can increase choice while raising legitimate questions about what it can see or do on a device. Search-data access may help competitors improve their services, but its value depends on the safeguards and conditions applied. These are implementation questions that evidence about user experience, traffic, business costs, prices, and privacy can help answer.
What the dispute means for users and businesses
For Search users
Google’s argument is that some Search experiences have become less helpful; the Commission’s aim is to curb advantages it considers unfair and enable alternatives. The result may differ by query and market, and the available material does not establish a uniform effect on users or prices.
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For Android users
The Commission’s measures address access for qualifying third-party AI services to specified Android capabilities. They do not establish that every Android user will receive a new default assistant or that every provider will gain identical access. Adoption and the resulting experience depend on eligibility, implementation, and provider choices.
For app developers and businesses
Google Play steering is about developers’ ability to direct users toward alternative purchase channels. Search presentation and Android interoperability are separate issues with different mechanisms. Businesses should not assume that a change in one area guarantees more customers, lower fees, or a particular ranking in Search.
What happens next
The immediate policy test is how the binding specifications work in practice: whether eligible competitors can use the specified access, whether safeguards protect users and businesses, and whether the measures change competition in ways that can be observed. Further enforcement or legal challenges may shape how the rules are applied, but a broad EU reset had not been announced as of August 18, 2026.
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