Google Maps
Designated as a platform on the strength of its user-contributed reviews and listings.
- Tier
- VLOP — very large online platform
- Provider
- Google Ireland Ltd.
- Sector
- Maps
- Designated
- 25 April 2023
- Obligations from
- 25 August 2023
- EU users at designation
- 275.6 million
- Formal proceedings
- None to date
- Court challenges
- None
Designated 25 April 2023 on 275.6 million average monthly active recipients in the Union.
Maps is a useful illustration of how wide “online platform” reaches: it qualifies because it disseminates user-generated content — reviews, photos, business listings — to the public, not because of its mapping function.
Where Google Maps sits in the tier
Designation is not a ranking, and the obligations do not scale with size: the smallest designated service carries exactly the same duties in Articles 33 to 43 as the largest.
Designated for its reviews, not its maps
A mapping service qualifies as an online platform because of what users contribute to it — reviews, ratings, photographs and business listings stored at the request of users and disseminated to the public. The mapping function itself is not what triggers designation.
The Article 34 assessment therefore concerns the contributed layer: review manipulation, fraudulent listings, and the commercial harm that follows when either is amplified by ranking. It is a useful illustration of how far “online platform” reaches beyond the services most people picture when they hear the term.
- Articles 30–32
- Where the service lets consumers conclude contracts with traders.
Google Maps timeline
- 25 April 2023 Designated a VLOP by Commission decision.
- 25 August 2023 Articles 33 to 43 begin to apply, four months after notification.
What Google Maps has to do
Designation applies the asymmetric obligations in Articles 33 to 43. They are the same for every designated service, read against a platform surface. Terms used on this page are collected in the glossary.
- Article 34 Systemic risk assessment
- Article 35 Mitigation of risks
- Article 37 Independent audit
- Article 38 Recommender systems without profiling
- Article 39 Advertising repository
- Article 40 Data access for the Commission and vetted researchers
- Article 41 Internal compliance function
- Article 42 Transparency reporting
- Article 43 Supervisory fee
Related designations
Also designated under Google Ireland Ltd.: Google Search, YouTube, Google Play, Google Shopping.
Designated on the same day (25 April 2023): Google Search, Bing, YouTube, Google Play, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon Store, Wikipedia, TikTok, Pinterest, App Store, X, AliExpress, Snapchat, Zalando, Google Shopping, LinkedIn, Booking.com.