Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is expected to face charges for violating European Union regulations designed to limit the influence of major technology firms. This development follows the company’s unsuccessful attempts to modify its search results in a manner that would alleviate the concerns raised by the EU antitrust authority and Google’s competitors.
Since March of last year, the European Commission has been investigating Google for possible infringements of the Digital Markets Act. One aspect of this inquiry examines whether Google prioritizes its own vertical search services, such as Google Shopping, Google Flights, and Google Hotels, over those of its competitors.
In a judgment delivered in September 2024, the European Court of Justice affirmed the General Court’s prior ruling, which had dismissed Google’s appeal against the European Commission’s imposition of a 2.42 billion euro fine levied for the company abusing its dominant position in the search engine market by consistently prioritizing Google Shopping in its overall search results.
In recent months, the U.S. tech giant has announced a series of changes to search result formats in a bid to address (often conflicting) demands from price-comparison sites, hotels, airlines, and small retailers. The majority of them have dismissed the proposals as not DMA-compliant.
The airline sector has demonstrated a readiness to reach a compromise. Airlines for Europe, the trade association, has voiced its endorsement for a uniform layout featuring same-sized boxes for both airlines and comparison websites in search results, as well as the use of the colour blue to differentiate these elements from others.
However, it emphasized that the prices shown in the search results must match those displayed in the boxes. Additionally, the association raised concerns regarding Google’s suggestion to provide only indicative dates instead of specific ones for consumers seeking to book flights. It argued that details such as travel dates are essential to the overall search experience for consumers in the air travel market, and transitioning to a solely indicative date format would significantly diminish their experience.
European Union antitrust regulators are allegedly dissatisfied with Google’s threat regarding the potential reinstatement of blue links in search results. Google has indicated that it might revert to a format featuring ten blue links in search results, a practice it employed in the past, if its competitors—including airlines and price comparison websites—cannot agree on its proposals for compliance with the Digital Markets Act.
The other DMA investigation into Google targets practices that hinder app developers from informing users about offers outside the Google App Store. Global scrutiny is increasingly directed at Google and other major technology companies regarding such restrictions.
In June of last year, Japan’s legislature passed a law specifically prohibiting tech giants such as Apple and Google from hindering third-party companies in their ability to sell and operate applications on their platforms. The law is anticipated to take effect by the end of this year.
