Google alters European search results to meet EU antitrust demands

Technology

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Alphabet’s Google has started changing how search results appear in the European Union to meet an EU antitrust compliance demand after €890 million in fines in July. The redesign places specialised comparison services and vertical search engines above individual hotels, airlines and restaurants, and removes features such as real-time pricing, which Google says degrades user experience and raises costs for European businesses. Google claims prior compliance cut free direct booking traffic by 30% and reports high user dissatisfaction in internal tests, though it has not published the data. The EU set a 60-day compliance window and possible periodic fines up to 5% of worldwide turnover.

Google rolled out EU search changes after €890 million in July fines