Google protests changes to search in the EU, threatening billions in fines

Google will begin testing changes to search results

*Reuters reports that Google plans to change the order of results in searches for hotels, flights, and restaurants to meet the European Commission’s requirements under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).*

Why this matters
- The European Commission has warned that if Google continues to favor its own services (“Shopping,” “Flights”), it could be fined for violating the DMA.

- Until now Google has offered several options to resolve conflicts with competitors and EU regulators, but they were deemed insufficient to eliminate the search engine’s privileged position.

What will change
1. Result display – both vertical service results (VSS) and Google’s own results will appear in the output.

2. VSS priority – by default the best vertical search engines will be shown first, but positions for hotels, airlines, restaurants, and transport services with real‑time data may move up or down the list.

3. Gradual rollout – changes will first affect accommodation searches, then add flight tracking and other services.

Implications for Google
- Failure to comply could result in a fine of up to 10 % of global annual sales; repeated violations could reach 20 %.

- Since 2017 the company has already paid €9.71 million (≈$11.5 million) in fines for EU antitrust breaches.

Thus, Google is launching an experiment to satisfy the European Commission’s demands and avoid large financial penalties.