Google willing to make more changes in its vertical search results in favor of competition

In an attempt to avoid a substantial antitrust fine from the European Commission, Google has proposed making further modifications to its search results to help competitors stand out more.

Ever since the European Union (EU) introduced the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in November 2022, Google has been on the European Commission’s radar.

The executive branch of the EU has been investigating the Mountain View-based tech company for potential breaches of the DMA since March 2023.

One probe focused on whether Google favors its vertical search engines, such as Google Hotels, Google Flights, and Google Shopping, over rivals and whether it discriminates against third-party services in Google Search results.

In September 2024, the European Court of Justice fined Google €2.42 billion for favoring its online vertical search services.

To prevent a recurrence, Google proposed to make several modifications to Google Search. It promised to accommodate competing search engine services and websites that offer price comparisons, including the introduction of dedicated units and formats to boost the presence of comparison sites for categories such as flights, hotels, and shopping, expanding formatted units to either take users to comparison sites, or redirecting users directly to suppliers’ websites.

However, most of these changes have been dismissed by the European Commission as not DMA-compliant.

According to documents seen by Reuters, Google has made a new proposal that aims to make more room for competitors to compete and offer consumers more choices.

Under Google’s new proposal, a vertical search service selected on objective and non-discriminatory criteria would get its own box at the top of the search page with the same format, information, and features as Google’s. The box would contain three direct links picked by the vertical search service to hotels, airlines, and restaurants. Other vertical search services would be ranked below, but without a box, unless users click on them.

“We do not agree with the European Commission’s preliminary findings’ position, but, on a without prejudice basis, we want to find a workable solution to resolve the present proceedings,” the document reads, according to Reuters.

The European Commission has called a meeting on July 8th when rivals can provide feedback. Some of them told the press agency that the changes still aren’t good enough to level the playing field.