Google Appeals the EU's Search Data-Sharing and Android AI Orders

Google has filed an appeal with the EU's General Court in Luxembourg against two Digital Markets Act (DMA) measures the European Commission announced in July. One would make Google share search data with rival search engines. The other would give competing AI assistants access to Android capabilities currently reserved for Gemini. The appeal was reported on 29 September 2026.

What is being appealed

Two separate measures are involved:

• Search data sharing. The Commission wants Google to share search data, covering what people search for and click on, with competing search engines, starting in January 2027. The stated aim is to "level the competitive landscape" for alternative search engines.
• Android access for AI assistants. Changes scheduled for next year would let rival AI assistants use device capabilities that are currently reserved for Google's Gemini.

Google's argument

Oliver Bethell, Google's senior director for competition, said: "mandating we share these personal queries without adequate safeguards would cause irreversible harm to user privacy."

Google's case rests on two points. First, that search data would be handed to third parties without adequate anonymisation and without user knowledge or consent. Second, that Android already lets third-party AI services work safely, with phone makers vetting them.

This matches the position Kent Walker, Google's President of Global Affairs, set out in a July post on Google's blog. He wrote that "Europeans' private searches would be exposed to unfamiliar companies, without adequate anonymisation of the data and without user knowledge or consent." He also argued that the Android ruling "threatens device security by granting external apps sensitive and powerful device permissions without these safeguards."

The Commission's position

The Commission's position, as reported by Euronews, is that the measures include privacy and security protections. Search information is to be anonymised before it is shared, and Google keeps the authority to assess whether a recipient poses serious security or data protection risks.

Why SEOs should care

Nothing changes in European results today because of the appeal itself. It is a legal challenge to obligations that are due to start next year. There are two things to watch:

• The search-data order is separate from the results-page changes. Google's earlier DMA changes to hotel, flight and restaurant results are already live in the EU. This appeal is about a different obligation, so don't fold the two together in client reporting.
• The timeline is uncertain. The appeal was filed with the EU General Court, and the coverage doesn't say whether the January 2027 start date is paused while the case is heard. Treat the date as unconfirmed until the Commission or the court says otherwise.

The appeal follows the Commission's €890 million penalty in July over Google favouring its own services in search results. The two cases are distinct, and the fine is not what this appeal concerns.

Sources

• The DMA should not undercut security & privacy for Europeans — Google, Kent Walker
• Google appeals EU data-sharing order, warns of 'irreversible harm' — Euronews, 29 September 2026