Google is preparing to test changes to how search results appear in Europe that would give competing vertical search services more visibility, Reuters reported, citing a person with direct knowledge of the plans.
The test would show results from top-ranked rival services by default alongside Google’s own results for queries related to hotels, flights, and restaurants.
With this test, Google is aiming to avoid a fine under the EU’s Digital Markets Act. The European Commission sent preliminary findings in March, alleging Google Search treats Alphabet’s own services more favorably than rivals under the DMA. Penalties can reach up to 10% of a company’s global annual revenue.
Google has proposed multiple rounds of changes since it first faced DMA charges last year. Those proposals were rejected. Now, Google is moving past proposals to actual testing.
Google has already run smaller-scale experiments with stripped-down search results, removing maps and hotel listings in favor of basic blue links. Businesses criticized those tests after reporting up to 30% drops in free direct booking clicks.
Why This Matters
The DMA case is one of several regulatory and antitrust actions pressuring Google to change how search results work. Each one could change which results appear and how much visibility third-party sites get.
Travel, hospitality, and local business verticals would feel the effects first. Rival services could pull clicks from Google’s integrated results toward other booking platforms and aggregators.
The EU-specific nature of this test matters too. Google has made DMA-specific search changes in European markets that don’t exist elsewhere. EU search results already look different from what you see in other regions, and this test would widen that gap further.
Google has accumulated €9.71 billion ($11.5 billion) in EU antitrust fines since 2017 across various cases. The DMA gives the Commission a separate enforcement tool with penalties that could add billions more.
Looking Ahead
Reuters said the changes would be rolled out across Europe soon. No specific dates were given.
Between the U.S. antitrust remedies and the EU’s DMA enforcement, the rules governing what appears on a Google search results page are changing on multiple fronts.
Featured Image: Samuel Boivin/Shutterstock
