Why Google's Competitors Think It's Violating the Digital Markets Act

07.03.2024 - 21:43 / skift.com / Dennis Schaal

The European Union’s Digital Markets Act, designed to ensure fair competition and protect consumers, became effective Thursday, and the EU Travel Tech association claimed Google is not complying with the new law.

EU Travel Tech members include Airbnb, Amadeus, Booking.com, eDreams Odigeo, Expedia Group, Skyscanner and Travelport.

“Google continues to self-preference its own intermediation services on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP),” the group wrote in a letter Wednesday to Margrethe Vestager, the commission’s antitrust czar, and Thierry Breton, commissioner for Internal Market, European Commission.

The group claims in the letter that Google’s own products for hotels, flights and other travel services are “more prominent, interactive and rich” than competitors’ products. “Organic search results are moving further away from view, while the page is filled with Google-owned content. This leads to a poorer experience and less choice for users.”

Google has changed the way it displays search results in Europe in recent months to meet the new law’s requirements, but the trade group said it falls short.

EU Travel Tech demanded that Google propose new ways to show search results and urged the European Commission to begin an investigation if Google flouts the law.

Under the Digital Markets Act, the European Commission designated several platforms as “gatekeepers,” including Alphabet, parent company of Google; Amazon; Apple; ByteDance; Meta, and Microsoft. The commission has required them to change their business practices. Booking.com expects to be assigned gatekeeper status later this year.

Competitors such as Tripadvisor and Expedia have long accused Google both in Europe and the U.S. of favoring its own travel businesses over those of rivals.

Google counters that its products are in consumers’ best interests because Google is efficiently giving them the answers they want. (This was before ChatGPT began to give consumers at times smarter answers, but that’s a separate issue.)

The following screenshots of Google.de in Germany show the new way Google is displaying hotel search results in the European Union – an example of why EU Travel Tech thinks Google is still biasing search results in favor of Google’s own travel businesses.

In this first screenshot, Google displays photos and offers free website links to rivals Booking.com, Trivago, Check24, and Kayak after a search for “paris hotels.” These links don’t automatically appear in the U.S.

In the second screenshot (below), you’ll notice the much more prominent treatment Google gives to the Google Hotels ecosystem, where the search engine makes tons of money from online travel agency advertisers.

The interactive map, which enables travelers to click