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Google Pulls Back EU Travel Search Features to Comply With Digital Markets Act
Google is stripping several travel-related search features across the European Union as it moves to satisfy the bloc's Digital Markets Act and avoid further antitrust penalties.
Under the revamped European search results page, queries for flights, hotels or restaurants will now surface two separate units: one reserved exclusively for third-party aggregators and booking sites, and an accompanying unit for direct suppliers.
The company said its supplier unit has also been restricted. Users inside the European Union can no longer filter results by travel dates, check live pricing or apply descriptive tags such as "budget" or "boutique" directly within the results page.
Google additionally confirmed it is removing its vacation rentals unit from the European search results page. Vacation rental feeds can still power results outside that unit on Google Maps and on google.com/hotels.
The changes are framed by Google as significant alterations to how Search operates in Europe, made as enforcement of the Digital Markets Act escalates and the company seeks to head off fresh fines from antitrust regulators.
The adjustments affect travelers and the online travel intermediaries, hotels and booking platforms that rely on Google's search real estate to reach customers in the EU market.