Apple may soon have two more services labelled as gatekeepers under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The EU confirmed that Apple has notified regulators that Apple Maps and Apple Ads meet the law’s thresholds, which triggers a 45-day review period to determine whether the company must follow gatekeeper rules for those products.
Under the DMA, a service qualifies for gatekeeper status if it has at least 45 million monthly users and 10,000 yearly business users across the last three financial years—figures that indicate significant market influence. Apple already has several services under this designation, including Safari, iOS, iPadOS, and the App Store, all of which must comply with strict requirements that prevent self-preferencing and overly restrictive ecosystem practices.
According to Reuters, Apple has formally opposed extending the designation to Maps and Ads. The company argues that Apple Maps has relatively low usage in the EU compared to its major competitors, such as Google Maps. Apple also claims that Apple Ads holds only a small slice of the region’s digital advertising market, far behind platforms run by Google, Meta, TikTok, and even X.
In a statement, Apple said:
“We look forward to further explaining to the European Commission why Apple Maps and Apple Ads should not be designated.”
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