Apple Ads and Apple Maps Avoid Gatekeeper Designation Under EU DMA

The European Commission has decided not to designate Apple’s online advertising service, Apple Ads, and its online intermediation service, Apple Maps, as gatekeeper services under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The decision follows Apple’s formal notification submitted on 27 November 2025, in which the company challenged the qualification of these services as important gateways between business users and end users.

After assessing Apple’s submissions and market evidence, the Commission concluded that neither service currently meets the DMA criteria for gatekeeper designation. In particular, Apple Maps was found to have relatively limited user reach across the European Union, while Apple Ads was assessed as having a modest presence in the EU online advertising market compared with larger competitors.

The Commission highlighted that these services do not play a significant role in enabling businesses to access consumers at scale within the EU. As a result, they were not considered sufficiently entrenched or unavoidable for business users, which is a key threshold under the DMA framework.

At the same time, the Commission stressed that this assessment is not final. Market developments will continue to be monitored, and the designation could be revisited if usage or market importance changes materially. The decision does not affect Apple’s existing gatekeeper status for other core platform services designated in September 2023 and April 2024. A non-confidential version of the decision will be published on the Commission’s DMA website.