• by Laurie Sullivan , Yesterday

Google on Tuesday rolled out changes to its online search results in Europe to satisfy European Union (EU) antitrust regulators, but said the change will degrade user experiences that could cost businesses in time and money.

The statement from Google Senior Vice President of Knowledge & Information Nick Fox was provided to Reuters. 

Google is complying with an order from the European Commission (EC).

Fox described the change das the the biggest quality drop in the 29-year history of its search engine. 

The EU said the changes will level the playing field for companies that serve up in Google Search results.

The redesigned results elevate price-comparison services like Expedia and Booking.com in travel and hospitality categories such as hotels, airlines, and restaurants. 

This update shifts digital search results in Europe, creating a new set of companies that will succeed in search.

For advertisers — especially those in hospitality, travel, and local services — this structural change under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) means they must completely rethink their search strategy. 

Radu Oncescu, a social media expert in Romania, identified a disclaimer in August.

He wrote on X: "Google is now displaying a new disclaimer for hotel booking prices: 'This price was customised by the booking partner based on factors such as your device type."

Some also report that the search carousel no longer features dynamic, real-time pricing data, reducing immediate consumer intent conversion, which could hurt advertisers in the European Union. 

In the new layout, Google features a scrollable section of local businesses. A carousel of hotels, airlines and restaurants, for example, will sit below them with key features. 

The tension between Google and online travel agencies (OTA) highlights a multibillion-dollar battle for control over digital space in travel and hospitality.

The two have been fighting Google for years, and the rivalry stems from a balance between search traffic dominance, advertising spend and monetizing the platforms.

In the redesigned layout, a single specialized search engine is featured prominently at the top, with two additional ones below it showing less detail, and a carousel of businesses beneath those. Google said it has removed live pricing data from that scrollable section.

Google told Reuters that internal tests across millions of European users revealed frustration, with many people searching again because the initial results failed to surface what they were looking for.

The company also added that DMA compliance measures had reduced free direct-booking referrals to European businesses by 30%, and warned that the new adjustments are likely to deepen that decline.