Alphabet’s Google on Tuesday introduced changes to its European search results to comply with EU antitrust requirements, warning that the measures will reduce the quality of the service and increase costs for businesses operating in Europe, Reuters reported.
Google told Reuters that the changes represented the largest reduction in the quality of its service in the search engine’s 29-year history. The company said EU regulators had presented the measures as an effort to create a more level playing field for businesses appearing in Google search results.
Google argues, however, that the changes will primarily benefit price comparison platforms and other specialized search services, known as vertical search services. These include companies operating in sectors such as hotels, airlines and restaurants, including Expedia and Booking.com.
Under the new system, such services will receive greater prominence than businesses in those sectors that appear directly in search results with links to their own websites, telephone numbers and addresses.
The revised search results will place one specialized search service at the top of the page, followed by two others with less information. A carousel featuring hotels, airlines and restaurants may then appear below, although certain features, including real-time prices, will be removed.
The order in which services are displayed will be determined by Google’s algorithm.
‘To comply with DMA requirements, we’re making significant changes to Search in Europe,’ Nick Fox, Google’s senior vice-president for knowledge and information, said in a statement.
Fox said the changes would worsen the experience for European users by giving greater prominence to online intermediaries at the expense of local businesses and removing features that users regularly rely on. Google said users outside the European Union would not be affected.
The changes follow a 460 million euro fine imposed on Google by the European Union in July for favouring its own services in shopping, hotel, transport and sports search results, in violation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
‘The changes follow a 460 million euro fine imposed on Google by the European Union in July’
The European Commission gave Google 60 days to comply with the DMA or face periodic penalty payments of up to 5 per cent of its total global turnover.
Google said previous changes made in response to the DMA had already resulted in a 30 per cent decline in free, direct booking traffic to European businesses. It expects the latest measures to have a further impact.
The company also said it had tested the revised search system with millions of European users and found high levels of dissatisfaction, with users often having to reformulate their searches to find the information they were looking for.
The European Commission imposed a separate 430 million euro fine on Google in July over restrictions that prevented app developers from directing users free of charge to cheaper offers through rival app stores or external websites.
Google said it had already updated its external offers programme to comply with the DMA requirements concerning Google Play. The company introduced further changes in August 2025 to make it easier for developers to direct customers to alternative channels and select different fee models.
Google has accumulated 10.38 billion euros in EU antitrust penalties during its nearly two-decade dispute with European competition authorities.
The EU fines have also triggered criticism from US President Donald Trump, who threatened in July to launch an investigation into the European Union over what he described as the bloc’s targeting of American companies.
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