Google Degrades European Search Results To Avoid Massive EU Fines
Google has rolled out Search changes in Europe that it openly admits will degrade the user experience, framing the quality drop as an unavoidable side effect of aligning with strict European Union antitrust mandates. The move is intended to avoid potentially massive daily fines under the EU's Digital Markets Act (ACT) after previously being slapped with a pair of fines totaling €890 million (around $1.02 billion in U.S. currency).
Those fines targeted two core pillars of Google's lucrative business, including a €430 million penalty for Play Store practices that Brussels determined ran afoul of the DMA, and a bigger €460 million fine related to Google's Search business.
"Google displays its own services more prominently in search results, including at the top of the search results page or by using enhanced visuals and filters, while similar third-party services do not have the same prominence," the regulatory body said at the time.
To satisfy EU regulators who accused Google of giving its own services preferential placement, the company is dismantling the integrated "rich" search modules that previously displayed instant information directly on the results page.
The result is that things like real-time pricing, availability, and direct booking tools for flights, hotels, restaurants, and local services are now being stripped out. Following the update, search results in Europe heavily prioritize third-party price comparison sites and booking portals (such as Expedia and Booking.com) over direct links to businesses and service providers.
According to Google, internal testing revealed that affected users are feeling friction from the changes, as they now must re-type search queries and navigate extra links to get directly to a merchant.
Speaking to Reuters, Nick Fox, Google’s Senior VP of Knowledge & Information, stated that the compliance changes "degrade the user experience for Europeans – boosting online intermediaries at the expense of local businesses, and removing helpful features people rely on every day."
A Google official also told the outlet that the forced change marks the largest reduction in quality of service in the search engine's 29-year history.
