Google's Changes for EU Compliance

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Google's proposed alterations to its search results to align with EU tech regulations have been positively received by Airlines for Europe, which includes members like Air France KLM and Lufthansa.

Recently, Google announced various modifications in search result formats due to conflicting demands from price-comparison sites, hotels, airlines, and small retailers.

These adjustments come as part of its efforts to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which forbids the company from prioritizing its own products and services or facing fines up to 10% of its global annual revenue.

According to a letter from Airlines for Europe dated December 20 and reviewed by Reuters, the airline sector has shown willingness to compromise in the interest of a timely DMA-compliant solution. The group supports a horizontal layout for search results featuring airlines and comparison sites, distinctly marked by the color blue.

However, they argue that the prices shown in the search results must match those displayed in the boxes and raised concerns about Google's suggestion to use purely indicative dates instead of specific dates for flight bookings. They believe that essential details like dates are crucial for consumers and that switching to purely indicative dates would significantly degrade their experience.

Furthermore, Google warned it might revert to its previous format of 10 blue links in search results if airlines and comparison sites cannot reach a consensus on its proposals for DMA compliance without promoting its own services.