Searches for hotels, flights, and restaurants might soon prioritize Google’s competitors in the results. Google plans to test changes to its search result displays, a year after facing antitrust charges in the EU, reports Reuters. The changes will elevate top-ranked rival services for hotels, flights, restaurants, and transportation above Google’s own services like Google Flights. This will initiate “across Europe,” starting with lodging results, followed by “flights and other services.”
This update aims to address a core issue identified by the European Commission when it found Google in violation of the Digital Markets Act, which targets anticompetitive practices by major tech companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft. Non-compliance with DMA regulations can lead to fines of up to 10 percent of annual revenue.
Google initially resisted rearranging search results, with its competition head, Oliver Bethell, arguing on LinkedIn that early changes made European users search longer and pay more. However, failing to comply with the DMA could lead to billions in fines for Google.