Normally it’s the European Commission that puts the shackles on Microsoft’s unfettered ambitions of business expansion, but that may not be the case for the company’s search and browser offering due to their low market share.
According to Bloomberg, early reports indicate that Microsoft’s Bing, Edge and advertising business may fly under the radar of the EU’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA) because the services are “not dominant enough” to pique the interest of regulation at this time.
While second rate search engine, search advertising, and browser platforms from Microsoft may not muster the regulatory purview of the EU, the commission has pinged the company’s other services as “gatekeepers” and as such, will need to adjust their “core platform services” to ensure interoperability with other businesses.
In this instance, the EU is not referring to Microsoft’s search or browser businesses as the “core platform services” in which they represent online services that link businesses to customers, instead it’s Windows, LinkedIn, and other peripheral apps that connect to the two.
Despite changes it made to Windows late last year to comply with potential DMA infractions by allowing users to uninstall some in-box apps as well as side stepping the default Microsoft Account sync up, the EU has deemed Windows and LinkedIn among the two Microsoft platforms that will fall under its DMA regulation which are set to be enforced on March 6, 2024.
Microsoft isn’t the only US-based company on the DMA chopping block as Apple, Meta, and Google are also receiving scrutiny over iMessage, Facebook and Instagram, and Search, respectively.
With Microsoft Edge only holding a sub 5% browser market share and Bing sitting at 3% of search market share worldwide, the company won’t have to worry about the two causing any headaches in the EU anytime soon and instead focus on making sure its real draws in Windows and LinkedIn continue to operate by the DMA starting soon.