Google has updated its search results in the European Union to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The company states that these changes represent the most significant decline in service quality over its 29-year history, as they prioritize price comparison sites such as Booking.com and Expedia over local businesses.
The new layout features one specialized search engine at the top of the page, followed by two others with less detail. Below these, a list of hotels, airlines, and restaurants will appear, but without real-time pricing. Rankings for these results will continue to be determined by Google's algorithm.
The company reports that previous DMA-related adjustments caused a 30% drop in free, direct booking traffic for European businesses. Internal tests indicate that millions of European users expressed dissatisfaction, often needing to re-enter queries to find desired information.
These changes follow a $534 million fine imposed by the European Commission in July after Google was found to have favored its own services in transport, shopping, hotels, and sports. The Commission had mandated compliance within 60 days to avoid penalties of up to 5% of total global turnover.
Additionally, Google recently adjusted its site reputation policy in the European Economic Area after discussions with the European Commission. This policy, introduced in 2024, aims to prevent third-party content from using a trusted site's reputation to rank higher in search results.