European Commission's ruling on gatekeepers is a major step towards a fair digital market

The European Commission's decision marks an important milestone on the path to a more balanced digital ecosystem," said Paulo?Trezentos, CEO & Co-founder of Aptoide. "It is a big step towards ensuring fair competition and greater opportunities for app stores and mobile game developers."

The European Commission's decision to designate six tech giants as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a major victory for Aptoide and other smaller app stores.

The DMA defines gatekeepers as large online platforms that have a strong position in the market and can act as a gateway between businesses and consumers.

The six gatekeepers designated by the Commission are Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta (formerly Facebook) and Microsoft.

The DMA imposes a number of obligations on gatekeepers, including:

• Prohibiting anti-competitive practices, such as self-preferencing and tying;
• Ensuring fair and non-discriminatory access to their platforms for businesses;
• Allowing businesses to communicate and promote their offers to end users;
• Providing users with more choice and control over their data.

The DMA also gives the Commission the power to impose fines of up to 10% of a company's global turnover for non-compliance.

"The DMA will level the playing field for all players in the app store market, giving smaller developers a fair chance to compete with the big tech giants," said Trezentos.

álvaro Pinto, Aptoide's COO and Co-founder, stated that "the EC's decision will give users more choice and control over the apps they use."

"Aptoide welcomes this decision and looks forward to working with the Commission to ensure that the DMA is implemented effectively," added?álvaro Pinto.

How the DMA will impact the app store market

The DMA is expected to impact the app store market significantly. By prohibiting anti-competitive practices and ensuring fair and non-discriminatory access to their platforms, the DMA will make it easier for smaller app stores to compete with the big tech giants. This will give users more choice and control over the apps they use.

The DMA will also require gatekeepers to allow businesses to communicate and promote their offers to end users. This will help smaller developers to reach a wider audience and compete more effectively with the big tech giants.

A healthier, stronger ecosystem

As the leading independent app store, Aptoide has been a vocal critic of the big tech giants and their dominance of the app store market. Following the European Commission's decision to designate six tech giants as gatekeepers under the DMA, we now look forward to a healthier, stronger, more diverse app store ecosystem, benefiting users and developers alike.