Google, Meta and Co. must reconnect, change and adapt their services – this is required by the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will come into force on March 7, 2024. While the already applied Digital Services Act (DSA) is aimed at the content of digital services, the DMA is about the conditions of competition and a fair market. This has very concrete effects on the things we use every day: such as Google search, social media platforms and device settings.
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Anyone who was surprised in the past few weeks that Google no longer automatically displayed Google Maps when searching for an address or business was part of a Google experiment group. The search engine giant has been trying out for weeks how various of its own services can be displayed in different ways – without violating the DMA. According to Google, more than 20 product changes have now been made.
For example, comparison portals for flights, hotels and shopping are no longer allowed to appear equally among the search results. Instead, you have to visit the respective pages in the future, i.e. go one click further. This should also give competitors more chances to assert themselves. So far, it has been a competitive advantage for Google to show its own price comparisons at the forefront. However, Google had already had to pay millions in fines for this, and several price comparison portals had sued.
It is similar with selecting a default browser and the default search engine. Here too, Google has long since stopped favoring itself by automatically making Google the default search on Android devices. After also being fined millions, Google had to give people the opportunity to choose when setting up a smartphone. In principle, the default search engine can always be changed in the settings. Now this option will pop up again for some users of certain devices – for example, people who have an iPhone but use Chrome. Google pays billions to be the default search engine for Safari, Apple's browser. However, this is not a competitive preference for your own services.
Meta and Google follow the DMA, Tiktok fights back
The DMA also requires that additional consent must be given when services are linked, such as with Google Search and Maps, but also with Meta's services Facebook, Instagram and Threads. The idea behind this is that the data collected across the services is also used for personalized advertising across the board. This can now be prevented – namely in the settings. There will also be corresponding banners asking for renewed consent.
Meta initially did not publish threads in the EU because of the DMA. Registering with the short message service was linked to an Instagram account, which gave a certain starting advantage for threads. The services have been separated, but thanks to the DMA, users now have additional options to decide which data can be shared across the services. Of course, Meta is also about personalized advertising. What is new is that Facebook Messenger is becoming independent. Until recently, this was integrated into Facebook.
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The DMA also requires that digital service providers give users the opportunity to virtually take their data with them. The required data portability is also about the competitiveness of the market. In addition to Google and Meta, Tiktok also has to offer these. This has been possible for a long time via the settings, where you can download your data. New is a data portability API that can be used to regularly request your own data. There is also an API for corporate customers. Tiktok, however, is taking legal action against being classified as a gatekeeper. These are the companies affected by the DMA. They must meet certain criteria in terms of their relevance and market power. Tiktok says: “As we have already made clear, we fully support the goals of the DMA, but believe that our designation risks undermining the stated goal of the DMA by protecting the real gatekeepers from newer competitors like protecting TikTok.”
However, messengers not only have to be independent services, but also interoperable. WhatsApp, for example, has to open up to third parties. This means that, in principle, it should be possible in the future to write to someone who only has a WhatsApp account from another messenger. However, Signal and Threema have already declined.
Apple is also trying a form of dismissal. While Google's Android devices are already much more open to third-party providers, Apple is having a hard time opening up anything. Although numerous changes are planned with iOS 17.4, such as the approval of alternative App Store offers and the free choice of browser, Apple is still criticized for the way it is implemented. Most recently, Epic, Spotify, Deezer and Paddle officially complained to the EU. It is not yet possible to predict what consequences this will have. In principle, the DMA also provides for penalties.
(emw)