Bing and Edge are probably not covered by the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA)

[German]Ad-hoc I don't know whether this is good news or bad news. According to recent reports, the EU Commission will not classify Microsoft's search engine Bing and the Edge browser as products or services subject to the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA). There are formal reasons for this: the market significance of the two Microsoft products and services mentioned is simply too low to fall under this classification.

EU Digital Markets Act (DMA)

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is intended to ensure that larger online platforms operate safely and fairly. To this end, large online platforms that meet certain criteria are classified as gatekeepers. Details can be found on this page (and here) of the EU.

Gatekeepers; source: EU Commission

As part of the DMA, the European Commission has designated 22 digital platforms as "gatekeepers", as they represent an important interface between companies and consumers with regard to central platform services (see article links at the end of the article). Microsoft is one of these gatekeepers.

Decision on the horizon

In my German article EU-Kommission benennt 22 Plattformen als Gatekeeper unter dem Digital Markets Act, I mentioned that the EU Commission had launched four market investigations to further examine the arguments of Microsoft and Apple. The companies argued that some of their core platform services could not be classified as gateways despite meeting the thresholds. In Microsoft's case, this concerned the Bing search engine, the Edge browser and the Microsoft advertising network. The investigation should be completed within a maximum of 5 months.

Now, Reuters reports, citing a report from Bloomberg (paywall), that Microsoft's Bing search engine, Edge browser and advertising services are unlikely to fall within the scope of Europe's Digital Markets Act (DMA). European regulators have concluded, according to insiders, that the products are not dominant enough to be regulated under the DMA as part of a five-month investigation into the market, which is due to end in February. Microsoft Edge had a market share of 4.97% in December 2023, according to statcounter.com, and Bing was at 3.38% market share on Statcounter.

Good or bad?

First of all, if the DSA classification proves to be true, this is a slap in the face for Microsoft. After all, they're pushing Bing and the Edge browser like sour grapes on every corner of Windows. And yet the products are not getting off the ground. I've reported several times here on the blog about these cases of people being foisted with Edge or Bing. I try to work Bing- and Edge-free in my environment. In this respect, this classification by the EU Commission is "not good for Microsoft", because they have "lifted the smock" and now the whole world can see "under there the fake giant is naked".

Let's move on to the second aspect of the matter: the situation for Windows users. Let me put it this way: If Microsoft were to score points for performance with Bing and Edge, and nobody could get past these products because of their outstanding advantages, you could nonchalantly look past them. The number of users would increase until they became relevant enough to fall under the DSA and be regulated.

Unfortunately, I fear that Microsoft will be even more aggressive in promoting its Bing and Edge browsers in Windows in the future. I had just mentioned in the blog post Windows 10/11: Changes due to the European Digital Markets Act that Microsoft is redesigning its Windows for Europe so that Bing and Edge can be uninstalled. I'm afraid that in the medium term, the endless tinkering with Bing and Edge will return.