Commission finds that Apple Ads and Apple Maps should not be designated under the Digital Markets Act

Today, the European Commission has found that Apple's online advertising service Apple Ads and Apple's online intermediation service Apple Maps should not be designated under the Digital Markets Act ('DMA').

Today's decision not to designate Apple Ads and Apple Maps follows Apple's notification of these services on 27 November 2025. Apple submitted arguments, explaining why, in its view, the notified services should not qualify as important gateways between business users and end users.

Following a review of Apple's arguments, the Commission has concluded that Apple does not qualify as a gatekeeper in relation to Apple Ads and Apple Maps, as neither of these platform services constitute an important gateway for business users to reach end users. This assessment is based on a number of considerations, including that Apple Maps has a relatively low overall usage rate in the EU, and that Apple Ads has very limited scale in the online advertising sector in the EU.

The Commission will continue to monitor market developments regarding these services, should any substantial changes arise. This decision does not affect the designation of Apple as a gatekeeper in September 2023 and April 2024 for other core platform services.

The non-confidential version of the decision will be published on the Commission's DMA website.

See the news announcement also here