Apple pushes back as EU probes whether Apple Ads and Maps should be subject to more regulation

European Union antitrust officials are looking to examine whether Apple Ads and Apple Maps should be subject to greater regulation and considered “gatekeepers” under the Digital Markets Act rules. The tech giant’s response? Apple doesn’t think so.

According to Reuters, the European Commission shared that it was notified by Apple that Apple Ads and Apple Maps met the Act's two thresholds to be considered "gatekeepers".

The Commission designates large digital platforms as “gatekeepers” to ensure fair competition if they meet the following requirements: having more than 45 million monthly active EU users and a market valuation above €75 billion ($79 billion).

Under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), these companies must comply with specific rules, known as "do's and don'ts," such as enabling third-party services, allowing users to uninstall pre-installed apps, and ensuring they don’t track users without consent or block user choices.

Now, regulators have 45 working days to decide whether either Apple Ads or Apple Maps should be formally held to the same rules that already apply to Apple’s App Store, iOS, and Safari. If that is the case, Apple will have six months to comply.

Reuters reports that Apple submitted official rebuttals on Friday, arguing against any of its services being marked as “gatekeepers.” Specifically, it explained that it remains a minor player in the EU’s online advertising services market, with a minimal share compared to rivals such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, or X.

The company also pointed out that it doesn’t rely on data from other Apple services or third-party services for this service.

Additionally, Apple said that its mapping service is significantly less popular in the EU than other services, such as Google Maps and Waze, and that it doesn’t have critical intermediation functionalities allowing it to directly connect businesses and end consumers.

Earlier in September, Apple asked the European Union (EU) to repeal the DMA arguing that the legislation poses security risks and hurts consumers.

“It's exposing them [users] to new risks, and disrupting the simple, seamless way their Apple products work together,” said Apple.

The European Commission, however, argues that the DMA is necessary to ensure fair competition and avoid unfair market domination across the bloc.