As part of our efforts to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), we’ve made several updates that many stakeholders have found satisfactory. However, a small group of intermediary comparison sites is pushing for even more drastic changes, which could significantly reduce the usefulness of certain features for users. While we hope to avoid such outcomes, we recently conducted a [test](https://blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/dma-compliance-update/) in Europe to assess the impact of removing hotel-related features from Google Search.
### Key Findings from the Test:
– **User Experience Declined**: People were noticeably less satisfied with their search results. Finding hotels became more time-consuming, often requiring additional searches. Many users ultimately gave up without finding what they needed.
– **Reduced Traffic**: Overall, traffic to both hotels and intermediary sites decreased.
– **Hotels Affected Most**: European hotels experienced a traffic drop of over 10%, impacting hundreds of thousands of businesses.
– **Minimal Benefit for Intermediaries**: Traffic to intermediary sites remained largely unchanged.
Given these negative outcomes, we have decided to stop the test.
### Current Compliance Efforts
To meet DMA requirements, we’ve already implemented significant changes that have [shifted traffic](https://blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/new-competition-rules-come-with-trade-offs/) from hotels to intermediaries, which has inadvertently increased costs for consumers. This shift has raised concerns among hotels and industry organizations, such as the [German Hotel Association (IHA)](https://www.hotellerie.de/news/newsdetail/digital-markets-act-2), about the potential removal of hotel features from Google Search.
### Looking Ahead
If further changes are mandated, we may be forced to eliminate these helpful features entirely. The results of our test suggest this would be a lose-lose scenario for both users and European businesses. We remain committed to engaging with the European Commission to discuss these findings and work toward a more balanced solution.
For more details, you can read our original blog post [here](https://blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/dma-compliance-update/).
Source: blog.google