EU Probes if Apple Ads, Maps Fall Under Tough Rules; Apple Says No

EU antitrust regulators will examine whether Apple's Apple Ads and Apple Maps should be subject to the onerous requirements of the bloc's digital rules after both services hit key criteria, with the U.S. tech giant saying they should be exempted.

Apple's App Store, iOS operating system and Safari web browser were designated core platform services under the Digital Markets Act two years ago aimed at reining in the power of Big Tech and opening up the field to rivals so consumers can have more choice.

The European Commission said that Apple has notified it that Apple Ads and Apple Maps met the Act's two thresholds to be considered "gatekeepers."

The DMA designates companies with services with more than 45 million monthly active users and 75 billion euros ($79 billion) in market capitalisation as gatekeepers subject to a list of dos and don'ts.

The Commission has 45 working days to decide whether to give Apple's maps and ads services such designation, with Apple then given six months to comply.

Apple said in a response on Friday that it had submitted official rebuttals to the EU competition enforcer.

The company said Apple Ads is not a large player in the online advertising services market in the EU, and has minimal share compared to rivals such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok or X, and that it does not use data from other Apple services or third-party services for this service.

Maps has very limited usage in the EU when compared to other mapping services, such as Google Maps and Waze, and it does not feature critical intermediation functionalities that would allow it to connect business users and end users more directly, Apple also said.