European Commission receives Apple’s notifications under the Digital Markets Act
Apple has informed the European Commission that Apple Ads and Apple Maps meet the Digital Markets Act thresholds, triggering a formal assessment of whether these services should be designated as gatekeepers.
The European Commission has received notifications from Apple stating that Apple Ads and Apple Maps meet the Digital Markets Act (DMA) thresholds for core platform services. The notifications, submitted on 27 November 2025, begin a formal review period in which the Commission must assess whether either service should be designated as a gatekeeper under EU law.
The Commission now has 45 working days to decide whether the two services meet the legal criteria for designation. If Apple is designated a gatekeeper for Apple Ads, Apple Maps or both, the company will have six months to bring the services into compliance with the obligations set out in the DMA.
The DMA applies to companies operating core platform services that play a major role in the internal market and function as key intermediaries between businesses and consumers. Gatekeeper status is presumed when services have at least 45 million monthly active end users and 10,000 yearly business users in each of the previous three financial years.
The Commission’s assessment will determine whether Apple’s advertising and mapping services fall within this category and, if so, what obligations they must meet under the DMA framework.
