Google has begun rolling out changes to its European travel search results to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act, but says the revised results are noticeably worse for users. The move follows a €460 million ($543 million) fine imposed by the European Commission in July for favouring Google's own services in travel and shopping searches, and reflects the bloc's ongoing effort to curb what it views as anticompetitive behaviour by dominant tech platforms.

Under the new format, European users searching for hotels or flights will lose instant pricing and availability features. Instead, results will show a link to a specialist search engine at the top, followed by two similar links with less detail, and then a carousel of options ranked purely by Google's algorithm rather than commercial deals. Google has until 23 September to fully comply, after which it risks fines of up to 5% of global revenue; the changes apply only in the EU, and Google claims its own testing shows users are less satisfied and searching repeatedly under the new system, while businesses fear a repeat of the 30% drop in direct booking traffic seen after earlier EU-driven changes in 2024.