The European Commission opens an in-depth investigation into Google's proposed acquisition of Fitbit over concerns about vast amounts of data Google could use
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Fitbit by Google under the EU Merger Regulation.
Context & Ripple Effects
Google's $2.1B bid for Fitbit has been under a cloud since February, when the European Data Protection Board warned the deal posed "a high level of risk" to privacy rights (EDPB warning). By July, the Commission was probing whether the deal would hand Google data to entrench search and advertising (FT reporting), and had floated remedies asking Google to keep Fitbit data out of its search advantage and open equal access to rivals (Ars Technica on the proposed conditions).
First-order effects
- The Phase 1 preliminary review ends today, so the deal now moves to a full Phase 2 probe that can stretch months — Google cannot close the acquisition until the Commission is satisfied.
- Fitbit stays in limbo as an independent company while the investigation runs, unable to integrate with Google's products or plan around Google ownership.
Second-order effects
- Rivals and third parties gain leverage from the Commission's stated remedy ideas — equal access to Fitbit health data and firewalling it from search — shaping whatever commitments Google must ultimately offer.
- Other wearables makers competing for the same health-data market get a regulatory template they can invoke against future big-tech data acquisitions.
Third-order effects
- The case tests whether merger control becomes the tool regulators use to police data concentration, not just market share — the EDPB's risk warning shows privacy authorities feeding directly into antitrust review.
- If conditional approval follows, big-tech acquisitions of data-rich companies will increasingly close only with behavioral commitments attached rather than clean clearance.
The trend: European regulators are turning merger review into a lever for constraining how large tech platforms combine user data across businesses.