BRUSSELS, Belgium: Alphabet's Google was fined a total of €890 million ($1 billion) by the European Union on July 23  for breaching landmark Digital Markets Act (DMA) rules, but the company is likely to avoid further penalties after regulators said ongoing "constructive dialogue" and recent compliance efforts had made significant progress.

The European Commission imposed two fines on the U.S. tech giant - €460 million for favouring its own services in Google Search and €430 million over restrictions in Google Play that prevented app developers from steering users free of charge to cheaper offers on rival app stores or websites.

The penalties are Google's first under the DMA and underscore the European Union's determination to curb the market power of Big Tech despite criticism from the United States and threats of retaliatory tariffs.

The €460 million fine relates to Google's treatment of its own shopping, hotel, transport and sports services in search results, while the second targets anti-steering restrictions in Google Play.

Reuters was the first to report on both fines, which are the fifth and sixth antitrust penalties imposed on Google by the European Commission, taking the company's total EU competition fines to €10.38 billion over nearly two decades.

"Our duty and obligation is to comply with the laws, that our laws are fully respected," EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera told reporters when asked about U.S. criticism of the bloc's actions against American technology companies.

"The DMA is to make sure we have a fair and level playing field. With these decisions we want to make sure there is competition," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen told reporters.

Google has 60 days to comply with the Commission's orders requiring it to treat rivals in a fair and non-discriminatory manner and to allow app developers to direct users away from Google Play. The company criticised the Commission's findings and said it could challenge the decisions in court.

"To comply, we are having to strip away real-time Search features Europeans love - like instant pricing and direct availability for hotels, flights, and restaurants - and dismantle safety protections on Google Play," Google President of Global Affairs Kent Walker said in a statement.

"This isn't fair competition; it's product degradation driven by a small group of self-serving complainants, with European businesses and consumers taking the hit."

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The Commission nevertheless indicated that Google is unlikely to face additional daily penalties because of progress made during discussions over compliance with the DMA.

The crackdown on Big Tech has angered the Trump administration, which has threatened retaliatory tariffs over what it says is unfair treatment of U.S. companies.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the fines and other EU actions "are driving massive uncertainty for U.S. exports of goods and services to Europe."

Greer said in a statement noting a recent record loan to Airbus from the EU lending arm: "It becomes clear that the EU continues to target the most competitive U.S. companies." He did not mention any U.S. plans to retaliate.

The Commission, which enforces EU competition rules, pointed to a "constructive dialogue" with Google and said the company had made significant progress towards complying with the DMA, suggesting that daily fines for non-compliance are unlikely.

"Google has proposed and started testing changes to how it presents its own services on Google Search for free services such as shopping, hotels and flights," the Commission said, describing the changes as substantial progress.

"The Commission also notes that Google has proposed and started testing changes to how it presents shopping ads and content related services, such as sports," it said.

The EU watchdog also said Google could apply the principles underpinning Thursday's decision to its AI-generated summaries known as AI Overviews and AI Mode, with discussions set to continue.

Google's proposed changes to its steering terms on Google Play also received a tentative endorsement from the Commission.

"These constitute good progress towards compliance and will also be assessed in light of the cease and desist order of today's decision," it said.

The fines are the third imposed under the DMA, following penalties handed to Apple and Meta Platforms in April last year.