Google Faces Major EU Antitrust Risk Over Search Result Disputes

Google has failed to reach an agreement with European hotels, airlines, and specialized search services like Skyscanner over how it displays search results, raising the risk of significant fines under the EU's Digital Markets Act. At a European Commission workshop, Google proposed two options that would place vertical search services in a dedicated box at the top of results, pushing hotels, restaurants, and airlines lower, but competitors criticized these changes as insufficient and potentially misleading to users. Skyscanner and other rivals argue that Google's proposals maintain its dominance by limiting functionality and disadvantaging competitors, while a lawyer representing complainants accused Google of deflecting attention from its regulatory non-compliance. Google's legal representative acknowledged the difficulty of balancing competing interests and called to conclude discussions without favoring a few over broader user and business benefits. The EU is expected to decide soon whether Google has complied with the Digital Markets Act, with penalties potentially amounting to up to 10 percent of its global annual revenue. This ongoing dispute highlights the challenges of regulating large tech companies to ensure fair competition in digital markets.