$Apple(AAPL)$ In the battle for smartphone dominance, Google could soon gain an advantage over $Apple (AAPL.US)$ from an unlikely source: a new European law.
Starting this week, the world's largest technology companies have to comply with the European Union's Digital Markets Act, a sweeping new law aimed at boosting competition from smaller companies in the realms of digital advertising, online search and app ecosystems.
In the near term, one of its biggest impacts could be in the rivalry between Apple and Google.
The new law is pushing Apple to open up certain parts of its app ecosystem in the EU, allowing third-party app stores for the first time and offering alternative in-app payment services on iPhones across the bloc. Apple had lobbied heavily against the moves, which reshape a part of its business that brings in billions of dollars in revenue.
By contrast, Google lobbied in favor of mandating a more open approach to how apps are downloaded. The Alphabet unit already allows outside app stores on its Android mobile operating system and could seek to take advantage of other provisions in the law to win more users for its Chrome browser on Apple devices.
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