Commission declines DMA gatekeeper status for Apple Maps and Apple Ads
The European Commission has published the summary of its 5 February 2026 decision concerning Apple’s notifications under Article 3(3) of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The Commission accepted Apple’s rebuttal and decided not to designate Apple Maps and Apple Ads as gatekeeper services, without opening a formal market investigation. While both services meet the DMA’s quantitative thresholds, the Commission concluded that they do not operate as important gateways for business users to reach end users.
For Apple Maps, the Commission found a clear and persistent gap compared to Google Maps across the EU. In fiscal year 2025, Google Maps attracted two to three times more monthly mobile users, with user engagement measured by time spent in the app being five to ten times higher. On browsers, Apple Maps usage was described as almost non-existent. The disparity was even more pronounced on the business side, with Google Maps estimated to have 300 to 400 times more business users in the EU.
With respect to Apple Ads, the Commission rejected Apple’s claim that the service falls outside the DMA’s definition of online advertising and confirmed that it meets the relevant business-user threshold. Nevertheless, the Commission accepted Apple’s rebuttal based on the limited scale of the service. Apple Ads was found to account for only around 0–5% of mobile advertising revenue in the EU, far behind competitors such as Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon.
The Commission also observed that app developers do not significantly rely on Apple Ads to reach users in the App Store, instead using broader marketing strategies, including referral links and web-based promotion. As a result of the decision, Apple avoids DMA gatekeeper obligations for Apple Maps and Apple Ads, including enhanced interoperability, transparency, and anti-self-preferencing requirements applicable to designated core platform services.
