Apple Ads and Apple Maps not designated under EU Digital Markets Act

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The European Commission said on Thursday that Apple’s advertising and mapping services will not be designated as gatekeepers under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, citing their relatively low usage and limited market impact across Europe.

In a statement, the Commission said it had concluded that Apple does not meet the criteria for gatekeeper status in relation to Apple Ads and Apple Maps. Regulators said neither service acts as an important gateway for business users seeking to reach end users in the European market.

“These platform services do not constitute an important gateway for business users to reach end users,” the Commission said, explaining that the DMA designation is reserved for services with significant scale, entrenched market positions and a strong ability to influence competition.

Apple welcomed the decision, saying its services face robust competition in Europe. “These services face significant competition in Europe, and we’re pleased the Commission recognized they do not meet the criteria for designation under the Digital Markets Act,” the company said in a statement.

The DMA is one of the world’s most far-reaching regulatory frameworks aimed at curbing the market power of major technology companies. It imposes strict obligations on so-called gatekeepers to prevent anti-competitive practices and to make it easier for users and businesses to switch between rival services, including social networks, web browsers and app stores.

Apple is already subject to DMA obligations for other parts of its ecosystem, including its App Store and mobile operating system. Thursday’s decision narrows the scope of additional regulatory requirements the company will face in Europe, at a time when Big Tech firms remain under intense scrutiny from EU competition authorities.

Bitcoin drops below $70,000, erasing post-Trump rally

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Bitcoin slid below the $70,000 mark on Thursday, extending a sharp selloff that has erased gains made since Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory. The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 3.8% to $69,858, its lowest level since November 2024.

Bitcoin is down nearly 8% this week and almost 20% so far this year. Ethereum also weakened, slipping close to 2% to around $2,090 and posting year-to-date losses of roughly 30%.

Analysts said the latest leg down was triggered by concerns over the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the Federal Reserve. Warsh is viewed as favoring a smaller central-bank balance sheet, a stance seen as negative for liquidity-sensitive assets such as cryptocurrencies.

“The market fears a hawk with him,” said Manuel Villegas Franceschi of Julius Baer, noting that reduced liquidity would offer little support for digital assets.

The global crypto market has lost about $1.9 trillion in value since peaking in October, according to CoinGecko, with institutional investors pulling billions from exchange-traded funds. Analysts at Deutsche Bank said persistent ETF outflows point to waning interest among traditional investors.

Bitcoin’s decline has also tracked weakness in technology stocks, as fears of AI-driven disruption ripple through markets. Jefferies warned that further price drops could pressure crypto miners and risk forced liquidations, amplifying volatility.

Spotify to sell physical books via Bookshop.org partnership

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Spotify said on Thursday it will begin selling physical books directly through its app under a new partnership with Bookshop.org, marking an unexpected move beyond its core music and audiobook offerings. The expansion comes as Spotify looks to differentiate its platform and compete more aggressively with rivals such as Apple and Amazon.

The physical book purchasing feature will roll out later this spring for users in the United States and the United Kingdom. Bookshop.org will manage pricing, inventory and fulfillment, while Spotify will integrate discovery and purchasing into its app experience.

Spotify has been steadily building out its audiobook business since launching Audiobooks in Premium two years ago. The service is now available in 22 markets, with an English-language catalogue exceeding 500,000 titles. The company said new audiobook listeners are up 36%, while listening hours have increased 37%, highlighting growing engagement despite intense competition in audio content.

The move into physical books comes at a challenging time for traditional publishing. Sales of printed books have slowed as readers increasingly shift to digital formats. Last year, News Corp, owner of publisher HarperCollins, warned that book orders were weakening, while long-standing distributor Baker & Taylor shut down operations earlier this year.

Alongside book sales, Spotify is introducing a new feature called “Page Match,” designed to bridge reading and listening. The tool allows users to scan a page from a physical book or e-book with their phone camera and jump to the corresponding point in the audiobook, then scan again later to resume reading from the exact spot. Page Match will launch with most English-language titles and is expected to be fully available to all audiobook users by late February.

Spotify has also raised the price of its monthly premium subscription by $1 to $12.99 in select markets, including the United States, Estonia and Latvia, as it continues to invest in new features and content formats.