Upcoming modifications aim to present outcomes from leading specialized search engines for sectors like hotels, airlines, and dining, appearing directly beside Google’s native search results.
Google faces ongoing criticism regarding its alleged anti-competitive strategies and dominance in specific market areas. Alphabet, its parent company, appears to be responding to the EU’s examination of its search operations.
The corporation is reportedly initiating trials for adjustments to its search engine outputs within the EU, intended to give a more equitable presence to vertical search services (VSS) focusing on industries such as hospitality, air travel, and food service.
The updated search interface will show VSS outcomes adjacent to Google’s proprietary results, with premier vertical search engines featured by default. This action is likely Alphabet’s effort to satisfy the European Commission and possibly circumvent penalties under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which could amount to 10% of a firm’s worldwide annual income—approximately $35 billion for Google.
This development follows approximately a year after the Commission determined that Google’s search offerings breached the DMA by prioritizing its own services and products over those of rivals in search results.
Google frequently faces antitrust allegations
Specialized search platforms like Booking.com, Kayak, and TripAdvisor concentrate on particular industries or content categories, rather than indexing the entire internet. Their purpose is to scan only the most pertinent websites or databases for their niche, employing structured algorithms, like those for pricing or geographical data, to provide more precise and targeted outcomes
After the Commission concluded that Google’s treatment of VSS platforms was unjust, the company put forward a proposition last June to feature distinct VSS sections at the pinnacle of its search result pages.
Google has faced previous antitrust penalties internationally (and domestically, where its dominance in the ad tech market has been established). In September, the EU imposed a €2.95 billion ($3.47 billion) fine on the technology behemoth for “abusive practices” within its EU ad tech operations. The company has also accumulated other fines for antitrust breaches, such as a €2.42 billion ($2.85 billion) penalty for preferring its own comparison-shopping platform.
“Achieving regulatory compliance invariably involves a delicate equilibrium,” remarked Anshel Sag, a principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. “Google appears to be fulfilling the requirements to an extent it believes will appease European authorities, but ultimately, I doubt this will serve consumers’ best interests.”
Sag commented that the precise nature of this compliance appears to be specifically aimed at the EU and the sectors of greatest concern to the Commission, suggesting it’s improbable to extend universally. Conversely, an ideal resolution would involve Google working more intimately with regulatory entities to “identify more expansive and consumer-friendly modifications.”
Nevertheless, Sag pointed out that even though Google Search is “unquestionably one of the globe’s most influential platforms,” examinations of it might become misdirected or even irrelevant in the emerging era of AI-driven search.
Experts foresee that AI agents such as Claude Cowork or Perplexity will progressively retrieve data straight from its origin (websites or knowledge bases), bypassing conventional web searches.
Enhancing visibility and fostering greater market competition
Especially concerning search, global regulators, tired of the status quo, are persistently challenging Google’s overwhelming market position.
“Historically, data indicates that the majority of users place confidence in the results presented at the pinnacle of a search page,” observed Erik Avakian, a technical counselor at Info-Tech Research Group. “They typically accept it without scrutiny.”
Such prime positioning alone can afford a business a “considerable edge,” he stated, given its profound capacity to sway and mold user conduct broadly. “This alteration in [results placement] is crucial, impacting the core ways individuals acquire information, make purchases, plan trips, and form choices.” Many of these choices, he highlighted, now originate online, frequently commencing with a search.
Avakian suggested that Google’s action in the EU could lead to an increased prominence for external services, thereby boosting their visibility and fostering greater competition. “Ultimately, this generally translates into a net positive for consumers,” he remarked. “It broadens their options and diminishes the power of any sole platform discreetly manipulating results.”
