Google is changing how Search handles hotel, flight, long-distance rail and bus, and product queries across the European Economic Area, adding dedicated modules for comparison and vertical-search services. The redesign can place an aggregator’s expanded results at the top of an eligible module, while users can switch to other available comparison providers.
The modules may show photos, prices and ratings supplied by the aggregator. Google says it will continue to rank the services through its own systems, while a separate area is intended for direct providers such as hotels and transport operators. The company outlines the format in its Google documentation.
The move gives greater visibility to intermediaries including online travel agencies, metasearch platforms and price-comparison sites. For a hotel search, for example, a comparison platform may be surfaced more prominently before a user reaches the hotel’s own site.
Google argues that the DMA-driven changes favor intermediaries and remove some tools people had used to compare options or book directly from Search. It has characterized the impact as the biggest decline in Search quality in the service’s 29-year history, a claim made amid its dispute with European regulators.
The overhaul follows a €460 million European Commission fine issued on July 23 over Google favoring its own shopping, hotel, transport and sports services in Search results. A separate €430 million DMA penalty concerning Google Play rules brought the two fines to €890 million.
Google says earlier DMA measures reduced free direct-booking traffic to European businesses by as much as 30%. It also says testing of the new interface with millions of users led to dissatisfaction and more repeated searches, though the company has not published the full methodology behind those figures. The new layout is live in Europe, while Search users outside the region are not receiving the same changes.
