Google recently announced that it has implemented significant changes to its services in Europe to comply with the new Digital Markets Act (DMA) legislation. These changes aim to reduce the dominant power on the market and create a fairer environment for all companies operating in the online field. Google has redesigned certain functions and completely eliminated others, changes that affect both users and other companies in Europe.
Google says that one of the main changes brought by Google in Europe concerns the search engine, where more than 20 adjustments have been made. These adjustments include the introduction of dedicated units and formats to promote free comparison sites in categories such as flights, hotels and shopping. These changes were made to meet DMA requirements and to give users access to more comparison options.
However, Google also removed some useful features from the results page, such as flight information and interactive features for certain maps. These changes had a negative impact on the experience of European users, who relied on these functions to make faster and more informed decisions.
The changes made by Google in Europe had different effects on different types of companies. While major online travel aggregators and comparison sites have benefited from these changes, other companies, such as hotel operators, airlines and small retailers, have reported significant declines in traffic. It is estimated that the number of direct clicks for free reservations has decreased by up to 30% since the implementation of the initial changes.
Google Announces a Series of Very Important Official CHANGES in Europe
In order to satisfy the requests of the comparison sites and to fulfill the objectives set by the DMA, Google proposed new changes in the search results. These include extensive and equally formatted units that allow users to choose between comparison sites and direct supplier sites when searching for products, restaurants, flights or hotels. Google has also introduced new formats that allow comparison sites to display more information, such as prices and images.
To evaluate the impact of these changes, Google will conduct a short test in Germany, Belgium and Estonia. In this test, free features for hotels will be removed from Google Search, and users will see a simple list of individual links with no additional features, similar to the classic "ten blue links" format. The purpose of this test is to understand how such changes could affect both user experience and website traffic.
Despite Google's efforts to comply with the new legislation, there are still requests from certain comparison sites that want even more radical changes, including a complete ban on displaying additional information in search results. Google points out that such measures would limit the search engine's ability to provide users with useful information, such as prices and ratings.
The company remains engaged in the dialogue with the European Commission and the industry, in order to find fair solutions that ensure a competitive environment, but also a positive experience for users. The test conducted in the three European countries will provide information valuable about the potential impact of additional changes and will contribute to shaping the future of Google search in Europe.
