The DMA, or Digital Markets Act, is a European Union regulation that sets ex ante obligations and prohibitions for gatekeepers, the largest digital platforms that control access between businesses and consumers, with the aim of making digital markets fair and contestable. In platform regulation, it complements competition law by banning a defined list of practices in advance instead of proving harm case by case after the fact.
Adopted as Regulation (EU) 2022/1925, the DMA applies directly in all member states. Its obligations for the first designated gatekeepers became binding in March 2024, and the European Commission is its sole enforcer.
How the Digital Markets Act designates gatekeepers
The DMA regulates companies, not sectors, through a designation procedure. A company is presumed to be a DMA gatekeeper when it provides a core platform service that meets quantitative thresholds for size, reach and durability. Companies meeting the thresholds must notify the Commission, which then designates the gatekeeper and lists the specific services covered.
The presumption rests on three cumulative criteria, each with measurable thresholds.
| Criterion | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Significant impact on the internal market | EU turnover of at least 7.5 billion euros in each of the last three years, or market value of at least 75 billion euros, plus activity in at least three member states |
| Important gateway | At least 45 million monthly active end users and 10,000 yearly active business users in the EU |
| Entrenched and durable position | Gateway thresholds met in each of the last three financial years |
A company may rebut the presumption with substantiated arguments, and the Commission can also designate a firm that falls short of the thresholds after a market investigation. Designations are reviewed at least every three years.
Core platform services covered
The DMA lists ten categories of core platform service. Obligations apply only to the services designated for each gatekeeper, so the same company can be covered for one product and not for another.
| Category | Examples of designated services |
|---|---|
| Online intermediation services | App stores, marketplaces, mapping and booking platforms |
| Online search engines | General web search |
| Online social networking | Major social networks |
| Video-sharing platforms | Large video platforms |
| Number-independent messaging | Messaging apps |
| Operating systems | Mobile and desktop operating systems |
| Web browsers | Default mobile browsers |
| Online advertising | Advertising intermediation services |
| Virtual assistants and cloud computing | Listed categories, designation depends on thresholds |
The designation is service-specific and dynamic. A gatekeeper may argue that a particular service is not an important gateway, and the Commission has accepted such arguments for some services while rejecting them for others. New services can be added when they meet the thresholds, so a company’s list of covered services can change over time.
Obligations and prohibitions for gatekeepers
The heart of the DMA is a list of dos and do nots that apply automatically after designation. Some are self-executing, while others may be specified further by the Commission in dialogue with the gatekeeper.
| Obligation | What it requires | Practical effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ban on self-preferencing | No better ranking for own products | Fairer search and marketplace results |
| Data combination consent | No merging of personal data across services without consent | Choice between personalized and less personalized options |
| Anti-steering ban | Business users may promote offers outside the platform | Developers can point to cheaper payment routes |
| Alternative app distribution | Allow third-party app stores and sideloading | New distribution channels on mobile |
| Choice screens and uninstalling | Users choose defaults and remove preinstalled apps | Easier switching of browser or search |
| Messaging interoperability | Open basic messaging to third parties on request | Cross-app messaging becomes possible |
| Data portability and access | Continuous export for users and business users | Lower switching costs |
Gatekeepers must also inform the Commission of planned acquisitions in the digital sector, submit an annual compliance report and have their consumer profiling techniques independently audited.
DMA compared with the DSA and competition law
The DMA is often confused with the Digital Services Act, although the two laws pursue different goals. The DSA governs illegal content, user safety and transparency across all intermediaries, while the DMA governs market power and fairness for a small group of gatekeepers.
| Aspect | DMA | DSA | Competition law |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Contestable, fair markets | Safe, transparent online services | Undistorted competition |
| Who is covered | Designated gatekeepers | All intermediaries, tiered | Any dominant undertaking |
| Approach | Ex ante rules | Due diligence duties | Ex post case-by-case |
| Enforcer | European Commission | Commission and national coordinators | Commission and national authorities |
The laws can apply to the same company at once. A large marketplace may be a very large online platform under the DSA and a designated gatekeeper under the DMA, so it must assess systemic content risks under one regime while opening its ranking and data practices under the other. National competition authorities can still pursue cases under national and EU competition law, but they may not impose additional gatekeeper-style obligations that conflict with the DMA.
Enforcement, penalties and open questions
Penalties are designed to matter for the largest firms. The Commission can impose fines of up to 10 percent of worldwide annual turnover, rising to 20 percent for repeated infringements, and periodic penalty payments of up to 5 percent of average daily turnover. For systematic non-compliance, it may impose behavioral or even structural remedies after a market investigation.
The first non-compliance decisions in 2025 fined two gatekeepers hundreds of millions of euros over anti-steering terms and a pay-or-consent advertising model. Debate continues over whether compliance designs such as new fee structures for alternative app distribution meet the spirit of the law, and over the security trade-offs of sideloading and interoperability.
Third parties also play a role. Business users and consumers can report suspected non-compliance, national courts can hear private damages claims based on DMA breaches, and consumer organizations can bring representative actions, which makes the regulation enforceable beyond the Commission’s own investigations.
A non-technical view
The DMA is a set of house rules for the biggest digital gatekeepers. These are the companies whose app stores, search engines and social networks almost every business needs to reach customers.
These companies both run the marketplace and sell in it. The law stops them from tilting the field in their own favor. Users can pick their own default apps. Businesses can tell customers about better deals elsewhere. Moving data to a competitor also becomes easier.
A concrete example
A small European developer sells a subscription fitness app through a designated mobile app store. Before the DMA, the store’s rules prevented the developer from telling users inside the app that the subscription was cheaper on its website.
Under the anti-steering obligation, the developer adds a link explaining the web offer, and some users subscribe there, which avoids part of the store commission. In markets where alternative distribution is allowed, the developer also tests a second app marketplace. The outcome is more control over pricing and customer relationships, although the developer still has to weigh the new fee structures that the store applies to these options.