The Digital Markets Act prohibits Google from prioritizing its own products and services on its platform. This legislation, which came into effect last year, aims to curb the influence of major technology firms.
Since the implementation of the Act, Google has been working to balance the conflicting needs of various stakeholders, including price-comparison websites, hotels, airlines, and small retailers. The latter three sectors have reported a 30% decline in direct booking clicks attributed to recent changes made by Google.
In a blog post on Tuesday, Google's legal director, Oliver Bethell, stated, "We have therefore proposed more changes to our European search results to try to accommodate these requests, while still meeting the goals set by the DMA." The proposed changes include the introduction of expanded and uniformly formatted units that allow users to select between comparison sites and supplier websites, new formats for rivals to display prices and images, and new advertising units for comparison sites.
Bethell expressed confidence in the latest proposal, stating, "We think the latest proposal is the right way to balance the difficult trade-offs that the DMA involves." Additionally, for its search results in Germany, Belgium, and Estonia, Google intends to eliminate the map displaying hotel locations and the results listed below it, reverting to a format reminiscent of the earlier "ten blue links" layout as part of a brief test to assess user interest.
"We're very reluctant to take this step, as removing helpful features does not benefit consumers or businesses in Europe," Bethell added.
Since March, Google has been under scrutiny from the European Commission. Violations of the DMA could result in fines of up to 10% of a company's annual global revenue.