The European Union is investigating Microsoft’s Bing and Apple’s iMessage. Antitrust regulators want to be sure whether or not both services fall under the stricter rules of the Digital Markets Act.

The European Union’s antitrust authorities are questioning both users and competitors of Microsoft’s Bing and Apple’s iMessage. This investigation aims to clarify whether these services fall under the stricter rules of the DMA. This information comes from people with knowledge of the case, Reuters reports.

Big and yet small

Microsoft and Apple are among the few gatekeepers that the EU has designated under the DMA. These are large technology companies that have been subject to stricter conditions for operating within the Union. This also includes the obligation to provide easy access to similar services from smaller third parties on their systems.

There have already been protests from both companies. Microsoft believes that Bing is too small to fall under the gatekeeper rules, and Apple does the same with iMessage.

Opinion poll

The survey that the EU now wants to conduct among users and competitors is about the importance and impact of both services compared to larger competitors. For Microsoft, Browser Edge and Microsoft Advertising were also included in the investigation.

For example, companies are asked if they use these services for something specific to their company. Other questions include whether iMessage or one of the three Microsoft products fits into a company’s ecosystem and how many active users there are.

Respondents have less than a week to respond, so there is some speed involved. The European Commission wants to conclude this matter within five months.