The American company Google has begun a large-scale restructuring of its search results in EU countries. The changes are related to the requirements of the European Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to limit the advantages of the largest internet platforms over their competitors. The changes may be particularly noticeable when searching for hotels, airline tickets, restaurants, and other services. ### What Will Change in Search One of the main requirements of European regulators is that Google should not give its own services an advantage over competing platforms. Therefore, the company is changing the placement and content of special blocks in the search results. Intermediary services, including hotel and travel booking sites, should gain more opportunities. At the same time, some information will disappear from certain blocks in Google, which users could previously see directly in the search. In particular, this concerns current prices and other data coming directly from hotels, airlines, and service providers. As a result, users may need to visit third-party sites more often to find the necessary information or compare offers. ### Google: Such Deterioration Has Never Happened Before Google is unhappy with the reform. The company claims that complying with the requirements of European regulators could lead to **the most significant deterioration in the quality of the search service in Google’s 29-year history**. The company also states that the changes already made to comply with the DMA have negatively impacted European businesses. According to Google’s estimates, direct traffic from search to hotel, airline, and other service provider websites has decreased by about **30%**. The company’s logic is that large intermediaries gain additional opportunities, while direct service providers find it harder to attract customers directly through Google. ### Why the EU Demands Change The European Commission has a different position. European authorities believe that Google holds such strong positions in the internet search market that it can direct users primarily to its own services. The DMA is intended to force the largest digital platforms to provide more equal conditions for competitors. The dispute over Google has been ongoing for several years and is accompanied by investigations and large fines. Therefore, the current changes are not just an experiment by the company but an attempt to align the search engine with European rules and reduce the risk of new sanctions. ### What the Average User Will Notice For residents of Latvia, the changes are directly relevant, as the rules apply across the entire European Union. When searching for a hotel, airline ticket, or other service, the familiar Google page may look different. Users may see offers from third-party services more frequently, and obtaining detailed information will require additional clicks. At the same time, the ultimate effect of the reform is not yet clear. Brussels hopes that it will enhance competition and expand consumer choice. Google, on the other hand, claims that European users will receive a less convenient product. The EU is trying to make internet search more competitive, but the cost of these changes may be unexpected for users. If Google’s forecast comes true, Europeans will have more choices between services, but the search itself will become less informative and require more actions. The main question now is whether Brussels can enhance competition without sacrificing the convenience of millions of users.
