A Reader's Question That Comes Up Every Few Months
A merchant who sells home fragrance products emailed us this spring after seeing headlines about Google being forced to change its Shopping results: 'Does the Digital Markets Act mean I have new legal obligations for my PrestaShop store?' It's a fair question, and the honest answer surprises most people: almost certainly not, not directly. But if a meaningful share of your traffic or sales comes through Google Search, Google Ads, Amazon, Meta, or the Apple App Store, the DMA is already reshaping the ground under your feet — you just won't find a compliance checklist with your business's name on it.
This article separates the two things people conflate: what the Digital Markets Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/1925) actually requires, and who it requires it from.
What the Digital Markets Act Actually Regulates
The DMA doesn't regulate online stores. It regulates a small list of extremely large platforms the European Commission designates as 'gatekeepers.' To be designated, a company generally needs to operate one or more 'core platform services' — search engines, app stores, social networks, messaging apps, operating systems, browsers, cloud computing, or ad services — and clear it against size thresholds tied to EEA turnover, market capitalisation, and user counts (tens of millions of monthly end users and thousands of business users).
As of this writing, the Commission has designated Alphabet (Google Search, Shopping, Android, Chrome, Ads, Play, YouTube), Amazon (Marketplace, Ads), Apple (iOS, App Store, Safari), ByteDance (TikTok), Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Marketplace, Ads), Microsoft (Windows, LinkedIn), and Booking.com. That list moves — the Commission adds and occasionally removes services — so treat any snapshot, including this one, as a starting point and check the official DMA page before making decisions based on it.
The obligations that matter to gatekeepers
Designated gatekeepers must, among other things:
- Stop self-preferencing their own products or services in rankings
- Disclose the main parameters used to rank search and marketplace results
- Give business users access to the performance and pricing data generated by their own advertising
- Drop 'most-favoured-nation' clauses that stopped sellers offering better prices elsewhere
- Allow interoperability for messaging services and alternative app distribution on mobile operating systems
- Stop combining personal data across services without genuine consent
How This Actually Reaches Your Store
| Gatekeeper obligation | What the gatekeeper must change | What it means for you, practically |
|---|---|---|
| No self-preferencing | Can't rank its own products or services above competitors using unfair criteria | A marginally fairer shot at visibility next to a marketplace's private-label items or a search engine's own shopping unit — not a guarantee of better rankings |
| Ranking transparency | Must publish the main ranking parameters | Some added insight into why a listing sits where it does, though the detail is still limited |
| Ad account transparency | Must expose pricing and performance data to advertisers | Better visibility into what you're actually paying for inside Google Ads or Meta Ads |
| No MFN clauses | Can't force identical or better pricing elsewhere | You may now legally price lower on your own PrestaShop store than on a marketplace where an MFN clause once restricted that |
| Alternative app stores | iOS and Android must allow sideloading | Relevant mainly if you distribute a companion loyalty or shopping app |
| Data access and portability | Business users get better data access | Marginally better marketplace and ad analytics over time |
Two of these are worth dwelling on. The MFN change carries the real commercial upside: several marketplace seller agreements historically required sellers to match or beat their marketplace price everywhere else, including their own store. Where that clause relied on an MFN theory the DMA now restricts, you may have more room to run your own store at a genuinely better price — though you should re-read your current seller agreement rather than assume the old clause disappeared automatically, since platforms have been rewriting terms since the obligations took effect.
The ranking and ad transparency obligations sound bigger than they typically feel in practice. One homeware seller we advised watched their category rankings shift by a couple of points after a marketplace adjusted how it displays competing offers — noticeable, not transformative, and not something to build a Q4 strategy around in isolation.
What the DMA Does Not Ask of You
This is where confusion usually starts, so it's worth stating plainly: the DMA does not require you to appoint a compliance officer, file a declaration, maintain DMA-specific technical documentation, or change your product listings. That's a different set of laws entirely. If you're looking for regulations that create direct obligations for your own store, the ones that matter are the Digital Services Act, the GPSR, and the Omnibus Directive — all of which do reach individual merchants, unlike the DMA.
What Smart Merchants Do Anyway
None of the following is a legal requirement — it's simply good practice given how much revenue likely depends on gatekeeper-controlled channels:
- Bookmark the European Commission's DMA gatekeeper and core-platform-service list and check it quarterly
- Re-read your Amazon and other marketplace seller agreements for pricing clauses that may now be unenforceable
- Track ranking-parameter disclosures from Google and Amazon as they're published, and compare them against your own analytics
- Diversify traffic sources so no single gatekeeper-controlled channel can single-handedly sink a quarter
- If you maintain a companion app, evaluate whether alternative distribution channels are worth supporting
For a broader view of how all these regulations stack up together, see our complete EU compliance checklist and how the EU AI Act affects online stores for the next wave of platform-adjacent rules.
What the DMA means for your next move
Pull up your current Amazon, Google Ads, and Meta Ads agreements this week and check for pricing-parity language dated before the DMA's obligations took effect — that's the single highest-value five minutes you can spend on DMA-related changes, because it's the one place the regulation might directly change what you're allowed to charge on your own store.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Digital Markets Act create legal obligations for small online retailers?
No. The DMA regulates designated gatekeepers only — very large platforms like Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft. A standard PrestaShop store has no direct filing, disclosure, or documentation duties under this regulation, unlike the GPSR or Omnibus Directive.
Which companies are currently DMA gatekeepers?
Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft, and Booking.com are among the platforms designated as of this writing. The European Commission reviews and updates designations periodically, so check the official DMA page before relying on any single list.
Can I now price my own store lower than my Amazon listings?
The DMA bans certain most-favoured-nation clauses gatekeepers previously used to require price parity across channels. That may free you to price lower on your own store, but review your current marketplace seller agreement directly, since terms have been rewritten since the obligations took effect.
Is the Digital Markets Act the same as the Digital Services Act?
No. The DMA targets competition and fairness among gatekeeper platforms. The Digital Services Act regulates content moderation, marketplace trader vetting, and online advertising transparency, and it does create direct obligations for many merchants.
Do I need to update my store or hire a compliance role because of the DMA?
No compliance role, documentation, or technical change is required on your side. Any effect on your business flows indirectly, through how gatekeeper platforms operate their search results, marketplaces, ad accounts, and app stores.
How do I find out if a platform I depend on is a designated gatekeeper?
The European Commission publishes and maintains the official list of designated gatekeepers and their core platform services on its Digital Markets Act webpage — that's the authoritative source, not third-party summaries including this one.
Related reading
- Digital Services Act Explained for Merchants
- Omnibus Directive Compliance Guide
- Complete EU Compliance Checklist for Online Stores
- How the EU AI Act Will Affect Online Stores
- Understanding GPSR Requirements
