GOOGLE has announced a major overhaul of its European search results in response to regulatory pressure under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The move follows a summer where the EU fined Google a total of 890 million euros, with 460 million euros specifically tied to alleged self-preferencing of Google’s own services. The reforms are intended to bring search results in line with the DMA’s provisions that large platforms should not favour their own services over third-party options.
Google says it must complete these architectural changes within a 60-day deadline, and it cautions that the updated results may appear of lower quality as a consequence of complying with the new rules.
Under the planned layout, a prominent third-party search engine will be shown at the very top of results, followed by two additional third-party links with less detail. The familiar carousel modules—such as those for flights, hotels, and restaurants—will be relegated to lower positions, and live pricing information will be removed from these displays.
Google executives, including Nick Fox, have described the changes as a significant degradation of the user experience, arguing they benefit intermediary platforms at the expense of local businesses. The article notes that prior adjustments already reduced direct booking traffic for smaller merchants by about 30%, and anticipates further traffic losses as users adapt to navigating more external aggregators for price comparisons and reviews.