Apple is facing intensified regulatory scrutiny in Europe. This comes after France’s antitrust watchdog imposed a €150 million ($162.42 million) fine on the tech giant for anti-competitive practices in mobile app advertising between 2021 and 2023.
The penalty stems from Apple’s implementation of its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature. Regulators say this unfairly disadvantaged competitors in the digital advertising space.
Apple introduced ATT as a privacy measure allowing iPhone and iPad users to control which apps could track their activity. However, critics—including advertisers, publishers, and digital marketing firms argue that the policy unfairly benefits Apple while restricting third-party ad networks. The French competition authority stated that Apple’s system was “neither necessary nor proportionate” in protecting user data and had a severe impact on smaller publishers reliant on third-party data for revenue.
Apple responded to the ruling with disappointment but noted that it is not required to immediately adjust its privacy tool.
This ruling marks the first time an antitrust authority has penalized Apple over ATT. However, it is far from the company’s only regulatory battle in Europe. In 2024, the European Commission fined Apple €1.8 billion for limiting competition in the music streaming market following a complaint from Spotify. Additionally, Germany’s antitrust watchdog has launched an investigation into ATT, accusing Apple of giving itself preferential treatment over competitors.
When ATT was first introduced in 2021, it disrupted the online advertising industry, with Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) reporting a staggering $10 billion revenue hit
Meanwhile, the regulatory pushback against Apple’s dominance has not gone unnoticed in the United States. Last month, former U.S. President Donald Trump issued a memo stating that the DMA would be scrutinized and could prompt reciprocal tariffs against Europe, signaling potential trade tensions between the U.S. and the EU over tech regulations.
In addition to paying the €150 million fine, Apple has been ordered to display the ruling on its website for seven days. However, the absence of mandated changes to ATT means the company can continue enforcing its policies as is—at least for now.
