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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Google has appealed two European Commission orders under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), according to Quartz’s 29 September 2026 report. One order requires Google to make specified, privacy-altered Search data available to eligible rival search providers; the other aims to let competing AI assistants access certain Android capabilities. They are separate measures, with reported compliance deadlines in January and July 2027 respectively. The available reporting does not establish whether the appeals have been accepted, whether either order has been suspended, or what Google argued in court.
Why is Google challenging the EU orders?
Google says the measures do not adequately protect privacy and security. Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior director for competition, told Quartz: “We’re appealing decisions that will force us to share people’s private search history without sufficient anonymization and weaken vital security protections on Android.” That is Google’s stated objection, not a court finding about the orders or their effects.
The European Commission presents the measures as competition remedies. It says Google Search has had more than 90% market share in Europe for decades and benefits from the scale of data it uses to improve its search service. The Commission argues that eligible rivals need access to data at scale to improve their own search products, including AI assistants with search functionality. The Commission’s Q&A does not give a specific measurement year or market-definition methodology alongside its market-share claim, so the figure should not be read as a dated 2026 estimate.
How the two orders differ
| Track | Asset at issue | Intended beneficiaries | Main concern raised in the dispute | Reported deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search data | Specified, anonymised Search data | Eligible online search providers, including qualifying chatbots that offer search | Google objects to the privacy protections; the Commission describes anonymisation and access controls | January 2027, as reported by Quartz |
| Android AI interoperability | Access to certain Android features and device capabilities | Competing AI assistants | Google warns about security and device integrity; the Commission says safeguards are included | July 2027, as reported by Quartz |
The deadlines above are Quartz’s account of the Commission’s measures. The Commission’s detailed Q&A sets out the Search implementation milestones; the sources available for the Android measure include the Commission’s announcement, not the full decision text. They therefore do not establish every technical obligation or a more detailed Android timetable.
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What Search data would Google have to share?
The Commission’s 16 July 2026 final-measures Q&A describes data generated by end users in connection with free and paid search. This includes anonymised ranking, query, click and view data that Google collects and uses to optimise Search. Examples include queries and related metadata such as language and device type, URLs viewed, interactions with search-result pages, and the positions in which results appeared. The order does not require Google to disclose its search algorithm or underlying technology.
The Commission specifies that data latency must be at least seven days and, to the greatest technically feasible extent, no greater than Google’s own internal latency. Each beneficiary may choose an access period of up to five years. Access is to follow a transparent process, with compensation reflecting incremental sharing costs and a reasonable return on incremental capital requirements. The compensation is capped by reference to Alphabet’s weighted average cost of capital; the Commission describes the terms as fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory.
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Who can qualify for Search data access?
The order is not a general right for every AI company to obtain Google data. An applicant must provide an online search service as a genuine economic activity in the EU for at least two consecutive years. A newer entrant can qualify if it was founded less than two years ago and has received more than €50 million in capital investment.
Applicants must also have averaged at least 50,000 monthly users of the service in the EU over the preceding year, satisfy security and data-transfer conditions, and pass independent verification. The Commission’s measures require an audit before access begins, a first compliance audit within six months after processing starts, and annual audits thereafter.
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What privacy protections apply, and how may recipients use the data?
The Commission says Alphabet must alter the data before sharing it to reduce the risk of identifying the people who searched. The required measures include removing direct identifiers and other identifying attributes; excluding account information and search histories; omitting precise timestamps; suppressing very long or rare-word queries; generalising location; and grouping interaction durations into intervals.
Access is also subject to contractual and organisational restrictions. The Commission describes a ringfenced environment, limits on retention, restrictions on linking or disclosing the data, a ban on attempts to re-identify people, and governance requirements. Beneficiaries must have safeguards and independent audits in place.
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Recipients may use the data only to develop and optimise their own online search technology and services. They may not use it to train general-purpose AI models, improve unrelated services such as advertising or consumer profiling, or systematically replicate Alphabet’s search results. Anonymisation does not remove every privacy issue: the Commission distinguishes data about the person who issued a query from personal information about someone else mentioned in that query. GDPR obligations continue to apply to the latter, and recipients are controllers for that data.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What would the Android order change for AI assistants?
The Commission says the Android measure is intended to let rival assistants compete for access to key device features that Google’s own AI services, including Gemini, can use. Its announcement gives examples such as activating a user’s preferred assistant by voice and asking an assistant to perform actions in apps. The Commission says privacy, device integrity and security safeguards are part of the measures.
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Google’s reported position is that Android already supports third-party services and that extending elevated permissions beyond the phone-maker vetting process could threaten device integrity. The Commission, by contrast, says restrictions make competing assistants less attractive to Android users, who it says account for 60% of EU users. That percentage is the Commission’s claim in its July 2026 announcement, not an independently verified estimate in the available material.
The Android obligation is not the Search data-sharing order in another form: it concerns rival assistants’ access to device capabilities, rather than transfer of Search records. Because the available Commission source is an announcement rather than the full Android decision, the precise technical scope should not be inferred beyond the examples and safeguards it describes.
What happens next, and what is known about the appeals?
The Commission’s Search Q&A lays out implementation work still scheduled after the reported appeal. Alphabet was due to submit an eligibility application form and publish information for potential beneficiaries by the end of August 2026; by September, it was due to make licence templates and test samples available and submit cost estimates. The Q&A says Alphabet must finalise the anonymised dataset by November 2026 and finalise and communicate its pricing offer by January 2027. These are Commission implementation milestones, not evidence of what the court has done.
Quartz reported on 29 September 2026 that Google had filed appeals with the EU General Court against both specification orders, which the Commission adopted on 16 July. The available sources do not provide case numbers, the text of the filings, or the status of any request for interim relief. It is therefore not established that a court has suspended either order or ruled on the merits. The reported appeals do not, by themselves, establish that the January 2027 Search deadline or July 2027 Android deadline has changed.
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