Google proposed further changes to its search results in Europe after some smaller rivals complained of a drop in traffic to their sites as a result of earlier adjustments by its Alphabet unit and as EU antitrust regulators consider charging the company under new EU technology rules.
Under the Digital Markets Act, Google is prohibited from favoring its own products and services on its platform. The law came into effect last year and aims to curb the power of big technology companies.
The world’s most popular online search engine has since tried to address conflicting demands from price comparison sites, hotels, airlines and small retailers, among others, with the latter three groups saying direct booking clicks fell by 30% due to recent changes made by Google.
“We have therefore proposed further changes to European search results to try to meet these requests, while continuing to meet the objectives set by the Digital Markets Authority,” Oliver Bethell, Google’s legal director, said in a blog post on Tuesday.
Changes include the introduction of expanded, equally formatted units that allow users to choose between comparison sites and supplier sites, new formats that allow competitors to display prices and images on their websites as well as new ad units for comparison sites.
“We believe the latest proposal is the right way to balance the difficult trade-offs involved in the DMA,” Bethel said.
For search results in Germany, Belgium and Estonia, Google also plans to remove the map that shows the location of hotels and results below the map, similar to the old “blue 10 links” format from years ago, as part of a short test to gauge user interest.
“We are very reluctant to take this step, because removing useful features does not benefit consumers or businesses in Europe,” Bethel said.
Google has been in the European Commission’s crosshairs since March. DMA violations can cost companies up to 10% of their annual global sales.
