March 7 is the day on which six major technology companies – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft – must provide compliance reports for the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, which comes into force from May 2023. Here’s how these so-called “gatekeeper” companies have complied so far and who else the DMA can apply to.

The big change effective March 7: App developers can expect to see new fees on the Google Play Store if they want to direct users to sites or apps outside of Google’s ecosystem.

The goal of the DMA is to ensure that digital markets are “fair and open,” promoting competition and innovation and preventing companies from encouraging users to explore only within that one company’s ecosystem of apps and products.

Which companies are gatekeepers under the DMA?

In September 2023, the European Commission designated Alphabet (parent company of Google), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft as “gatekeepers” or providers of certain “core platform services” such as Google Maps, Apple AppStore and Amazon Marketplace. There is 22 core platform services. Booking, ByteDance and X notified the European Commission on March 1 that they are potential candidates for gatekeeper status.

ByteDance is mentioned twice because the company in November 2023 appealed his gatekeeper status. The company argued that its main product, TikTok, was not well established enough to count. From March 2024 it is again a “potential” gatekeeper.

SEE: EU regulations could have impacts around the world, including in Australia. (TechRepublic)

Gatekeepers must submit DMA compliance reports by March 7

By March 7, designated gatekeeper organizations must submit compliance reports to the EU, detailing how they plan to follow the Act. Next, each organization will work individually with the Commission to refine those plans.

If organizations do not submit by the deadline or do not make changes to comply with the DMA, they may be subject to fines. The Commission can fine non-compliant organizations up to 10% of the organization’s total worldwide turnover. Repeat offenses can increase that number to 20%. In the most serious cases, the Commission can compel a gatekeeper to sell all or parts of their business, or prohibit them from obtaining certain services.

Who does the DMA apply to?

The DMA applies to organizations that have a major economic impact in the EU (at least €7.5 billion in revenue in the EU per year for the last three fiscal years) and has more than 45 million monthly active end users in the EU, or more than 10,000 annual active business users for at least three fiscal years.

Apple’s answers and $1.95 billion fine

In January 2024, Apple announced changes to the App Store in response to the DMA that included fees for app developers and a €0.50 per first install Core Technology fee for apps with more than one million installs each year. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney called this “malicious compliance” in January.

Other services that use the App Store were also unhappy with Apple’s response. On March 1, a group of companies including Spotify addressed the European Commissionand says Apple’s push for DMA compliance “seems designed to maintain and even strengthen Apple’s exploitation of its dominance over app developers.”

The DMA fined Apple $1.95 billion on March 4 specifically because of the protest that Spotify started over how Apple promotes its own music service, the AP reported. Appeal plans to appeal the fine.

Google Actions for DMA Compliance

Some significant changes to Google products and services was announced on March 5. These changes include:

• Removal of some Google Search widgets, such as Google Flights to allow more access to individual businesses.
• New settings to choose how data is shared between different Google services.
• “Choice screens” for Android and Chrome to encourage the user to select their preferred search engine or browser.

Android already allows third-party app stores and sideloading, which is what the DMA forced Apple to do with its AppStore.

On March 6, Google introduced a feature that allows developers of apps distributed through the Google Play Store to guide users in the European Economic Area outside of the app, including for ad promotions, to visit other app stores or the developer’s website to visit

Developers who enroll in the Google External Offerings Program will pay two fees for the first two years:

• An initial acquisition fee of 5% for auto-renewing subscriptions and 10% for other offers.
• An ongoing service fee of 7% for auto-renewing subscriptions and 17% for other offers.

Steps to Comply with DMA from Meta, Amazon, ByteDance

The impact of the DMA on industry and customers

It is still too early to say what the main impact of the DMA will be on the industry and customers.

“For the DMA to be successful, enforcement and compliance assessment must be balanced and unbiased, taking into account the significant differences between gatekeepers, as well as how these services actually operate,” writes Daniel Friedlaender, senior vice president and head of Europe’s Computer and Communications Industry Association, in a statement.

“One-size-fits-all DMA compliance solutions simply do not exist,” said Friedlaender. “The Commission must allow technology companies to continue to differentiate themselves from others. If not, online services may be forced to become more similar, or be forced to drop features that differentiate them from their competitors.”