Google warns of lower quality as it revamps Europe search results to avoid EU fines
Regulators, fines and the impact on search rankings
The U.S. tech giant was hit with a €460 million ($534 million) fine in July for favouring its own services in shopping, hotels, transport and sports results in search results, in breach of the EU's Digital Markets Act seeking to rein in the power of Big Tech.
The European Commission gave it 60 days to comply with the DMA or risk periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of its total worldwide turnover.
The revamped search results will highlight one specialised search engine at the top of the page, followed by two others with fewer details. A carousel of hotels, airlines and restaurants, for example, will sit below them with key features such as real-time prices stripped out.
The rankings will be determined by Google's algorithm.
"To comply with DMA requirements, we're making significant changes to Search in Europe," Nick Fox, Google's senior vice-president, knowledge & information, said in a statement to Reuters.
