Google Reportedly Offers To Tweak Search Results To Avoid Eu Fine

In bid to debar paying billions of dollars successful fines for violating nan European Union's Digital Markets Act, Google is considering changing really hunt results are displayed, Reuters reports. EU regulators first took issue pinch Google's Search and Play Store businesses successful March 2025, claiming it favored its ain services successful hunt results complete third-party options and prevented developers from informing customers of replacement ways of accessing apps.

One of regulators main issues pinch Google Search was that Google appeared to favour results from services for illustration Google Flights aliases Google Hotels complete ones from "vertical hunt services," providers that specialize successful displaying hunt results from a circumstantial industry, for illustration Expedia aliases Hotels.com. To debar fines, Google now wants Search to springiness VSS businesses adjacent curen successful results.

"We will create nan opportunity for each VSS to show its ain container connected Search. A VSS container will beryllium populated pinch results from that VSS inventory," Google said successful a connection viewed by Reuters. Results from Google's ain services will beryllium pinch nan aforesaid formatting alongside, and nan winning VSS container will beryllium displayed successful hunt results based connected "objective and non-discriminatory criteria." Importantly, hunt results from existent airlines and car rental companies won't beryllium excluded, they'll besides look successful a container "above aliases beneath nan VSS container depending connected nan relevance to nan user's query."

Engadget has asked Google to remark connected Reuters' report and to corroborate nan specifications of its projected changes to Google Search. We'll update this article if we perceive back.

Like Apple, Google faces important scrutiny from nan EU because of its monopolistic power complete its various platforms and services. The threat of fines from nan DMA has forced Apple to unfastened up its products to third-party app stores, among a big of different changes. Clearly, Google is consenting to tweak what erstwhile seemed for illustration untouchable pillars of its business to debar fines, too. Whether these projected changes will beryllium capable for nan regulators remains to beryllium seen, though.