According to people familiar with the matter, Alphabet's Google will soon test a new way of displaying search results in the European market, giving competitors more display positions in searches involving vertical fields such as hotels, air tickets and restaurants, to avoid being heavily fined by the European Union for allegedly favoring its own services in search results.
The world's most popular internet search engine has been battling regulators and rivals since it was accused of breaching the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) in March last year. Google has proposed a number of rectification plans, hoping to appease vertical search service platforms and EU regulators. However, because relevant opponents believe that these measures are not strong enough, the relevant adjustments have not yet been implemented so far.
The above-mentioned people said that the core of Google's latest plan to be tested this time is to present vertical search service (VSS) and Google's own results on the search results page at the same time, and to display the top-ranked vertical search engines by default. In scenarios such as hotels, airlines, restaurants and transportation services, those services that provide real-time information through data interfaces will be placed above or below the vertical search engine list. The specific order has not been disclosed. This change will be launched first in Europe, initially covering accommodation-related searches, and later expanded to air tickets and other service categories.
At present, the European Commission refuses to comment on this. However, if Google’s final rectification plan is deemed to comply with the requirements of the Digital Market Law, it is expected to ease its tense relationship with Brussels. According to the bill, once found to be in violation, the relevant "gatekeeper" platform may face fines of up to 10% of its global annual revenue, which will be a huge financial risk for Google parent company Alphabet.
In the past few years, Google has been fined a total of 9.71 billion euros (approximately US$11.5 billion) in Europe for multiple antitrust cases, involving abuse of its dominant position in the search market and bundling of Android systems. The EU's tough attitude toward large technology companies "squeezing competitors" has also intensified friction with the United States, prompting the United States to repeatedly threaten to take tariff countermeasures and even impose visa restrictions on a former EU official who led digital legislation.
Currently, the regulatory battle between Europe and the United States is still ongoing around how to restrain the market power of technology giants without stifling innovation. Google’s proactive adjustment in search rankings this time is regarded as a key test in the context of the formal enforcement of the Digital Market Law.