U.S. tech giant Apple (AAPL) has informed the European Commission that its Apple ad and Apple Maps services meet the thresholds set by the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The commission now has 45 working days to decide whether to designate Apple as a “gatekeeper” for any of these services. If designated, Apple (AAPL) will have six months to comply with the DMA’s requirements.
The DMA designates companies with more than 45 million monthly active users and 75 billion euros ($79 billion) in market capitalization as gatekeepers, which provide a core platform service for business users.
The so-called gatekeepers have to adhere to a strict set of rules on moderation of content, allowing fair competition and making it easier for consumers to switch between services.
Apple (AAPL), in a statement to Reuters, said Apple Ads is not a large player in the online advertising services market in the EU, and has minimal share compared to rivals such as Google (GOOG) (GOOGL), Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), TikTok or X.
Maps has very limited usage in the EU when compared to other mapping services, such as Google Maps and Waze, Apple added.