Google Search may become less useful for trip planning, thanks to the DMA

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What you need to know

  • The Digital Markets Act in the European Union has forced Google to change or remove some trip-planning features in Google Search.
  • Price comparison sites are asking for more, and Google is proposing new changes to its DMA compliance for trip planning in Search.
  • As part of the changes, Google will test removing advanced hotel-booking features entirely in Germany, Belgium and Estonia for a limited time.

Google is a useful resource for trip planning, with features aimed to help users compare prices and book directly with airlines, hotels, and more. However, that might be changing for users in the European Union. Google has made significant changes to its offerings in the region to comply with the Digital Markets Act. Price comparison sites still aren’t happy, and are advocating for Google Search to go back to basics, at least as it relates to travel.

In the past, the company explains that it boosted listings for comparison sites in certain categories, including flights and hotels, for free. It also removed features from its travel maps and stopped showing flight information. The company says that these moves were made to comply with the DMA, and benefitted travel aggregators and comparison sites. Meanwhile, it argued that the changes negatively affected small businesses.

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