Local time on Wednesday (March 19), the European Commission announced on its official website that it has filed antitrust charges against Google and ordered Apple to take measures to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The press release wrote that the Commission has sent two preliminary investigation results to Alphabet, Google's parent company.The regulatory body found that certain features and functions of Google Search gave preferential treatment to Alphabet's own services over those of its competitors.

This violates the requirement in the DMA for transparent, fair, and non-discriminatory treatment of third-party services. The Commission also believes that the app marketplace Google Play "does not allow consumers to be freely directed to other channels for better offers."

The European Commission explained: Alphabet favors its own services (such as shopping, hotel bookings, transportation, or financial and sports results) in Google search results over similar services provided by third parties.

More specifically, Alphabet makes its services stand out more compared to other services by displaying them at the top of or in dedicated spaces within Google search results, and by enhancing visual formats and filtering mechanisms.

The European Commission has already notified Alphabet of its preliminary findings: the company has violated the DMA. However, Alphabet can still exercise its right to defense by responding to these preliminary findings in writing.

force Apple to "tear down the walls"

In another statement, the Commission provided guidance to Apple under the DMA, requiring Apple to enhance the interoperability of its products—making the integration of third-party products into the Apple ecosystem more in-depth and seamless. Therefore, the Commission requires Apple to allow third parties to develop innovative products and services on Apple's platform.

The Commission requires Apple to provide ① better access to the interaction functions of the iPhone with these devices (such as displaying notifications on a smartwatch); ② faster data transfer; ③ easier device setup (such as pairing) to other device manufacturers and app developers.

This would allow other brand connection devices to run more smoothly on the iPhone, and device manufacturers will have new opportunities to bring innovative products to market, improving the user experience for European consumers.

The Commission also requires Apple to provide ① better access to technical documentation, covering features that have not yet been opened to third parties; ② timely communication and updates; ③ a more predictable timetable for reviewing interoperability requests, for developers who wish to achieve interoperability with iPhone and iPad functionalities.

The Commission believes that under these measures, developers will be able to handle interoperability requests more quickly and fairly, thereby accelerating the ability to provide innovative services and hardware compatible with iPhones and iPads to European consumers.

Regarding the EU's requirements, an Apple spokesperson replied that these measures "have mired us in cumbersome regulations, slowed down Apple's ability to innovate for European users, and forced us to give our new features away for free to companies that do not have to comply with the same rules."

An Apple spokesperson said, "We will continue to work with the European Commission to help them understand our concerns on behalf of our users."

It is worth noting that the Commission announced these measures at a time when the Trump administration had been warning the EU not to over-regulate U.S. tech giants. Previously, Trump had criticized the EU's charges against U.S. companies as "a form of taxation."

At the same time, there are reports that the EU is planning retaliatory measures against Silicon Valley in the US, meaning that if Trump follows through with his threat to impose tariffs on the EU, the European side will drag the US service sector into the crossfire of a trade war.