In order to avoid violating the EU Digital Markets Directive (DMA)Billions of dollars in fines,Google據傳The plan is to adjust the display mode of its search services in the European market, which will allow more third-party services to be displayed in search results on an equal basis, rather than only giving priority to Google's own service content.
In March 2025, EU regulators alleged that Google violated digital market laws in its search services and Google Play Store, including favoring its own services in search results and preventing developers from informing users of other ways to obtain apps. As a result, it may face fines of more than $35 billion.
The regulators' main concern is that Google appears to favor its own services, such as Google Flights or Google Hotels, which makes it difficult for search service providers specializing in specific areas, such as Expedia or Hotels.com, to have the same display weight in search results.
Therefore, in the adjustment plan proposed by Google, it stated that it would allow search service providers to display their service content in the same form in the search results, and would also determine the display order based on objective and non-discriminatory principles. Google's own services would also be displayed side by side in the same format. As for the actual airline and car rental company search results, they would not be excluded, but would be displayed above or below the content of vertical search service providers based on their relevance to the user's query.
Google's plan to adjust its search service highlights that the EU's digital market law does have an impact on large technology companies. It also reflects that companies including Google and Apple are faced with the need to adjust their platform service operating models to comply with the principle of fair competition in the market.
Since Apple has already adjusted its app service policy due to the EU Digital Markets Directive, such as opening up third-party app store services, it is obvious that Google must also follow suit and adjust its service model, otherwise it will face huge fines.
However, even if Google plans to adjust its search service display mode, whether it can actually allow vertical search service providers to have a larger display proportion while ensuring fair and impartial search results may still depend on the specific results of subsequent adjustments. But at least it shows that Google is willing to cooperate with regulations to adjust its services to avoid facing greater losses.
