European publishers and tech firms are pushing the EU to wrap up its Google antitrust probe. Two years in, patience has run out.
A coalition of European publishers, tech firms, and startups has written to EU leaders demanding they complete their nearly two-year probe into Google’s search practices and fine Alphabet, preferably by next week.
Two years is a long time to investigate such an obvious situation.
The letter is by the European Publishers Council, which includes Axel Springer, News Corp, and Condé Nast. These groups want a formal non-compliance ruling- with a cease-and-desist order, and a real financial penalty. Google proposed its own remedies. Rivals say those don’t go far enough. They’re right.
Independent research found Google’s AI Overviews now correlate with a 58% drop in click-through rates for top-ranking pages. That’s nearly double what was recorded just a year earlier. Publishers aren’t losing revenue slowly. The floor is gone.
The politics complicate things. After earlier DMA fines impacted Apple and Meta, the White House labeled the penalties a “novel form of economic extortion” and signaled the U.S. would push back. So the Commission is weighing regulatory credibility against trade friction with Washington.
That’s the real obstacle here. Not the evidence. Not the complaints. The question is whether Brussels flinches under political pressure.
If it does, the Digital Markets Act becomes a suggestion. And Google knows it.
