Reuters reports that more than 20 price comparison websites across Europe have openly criticized Google’s latest proposals for adjusting its search results, claiming that the Alphabet unit continues to flout EU tech regulations. This criticism comes after over a year of discussions with Google, which has been striving to align its practices with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The DMA explicitly prohibits Google from giving preferential treatment to its own services within its search platform.
Google’s most recent attempt to comply involves introducing expanded, uniformly formatted search result units that would enable users to choose freely between comparison sites and direct supplier websites. Additionally, Google has proposed testing a return to its classic “ten blue links” search result format in select countries like Germany, Belgium, and Estonia as a potential compromise if no agreement is reached with its rivals.
However, these changes have not satisfied the price comparison platforms, including major European players like Germany’s Idealo and billiger.de, France’s Le Guide, PriceRunner, Kelkoo, and the Dutch and Italian sites kieskeurig.nl and trovaprezzi.it. In an open letter, these entities expressed frustration over Google’s apparent disregard for their input, stating (via Reuters), “Google has simply, repeatedly, ignored this feedback, and instead continued to iterate on the same non-compliant solution for months.”
The comparison sites argue that Google’s unwillingness to adapt suggests a deliberate choice not to comply with the DMA. They have urged the European Commission to take decisive action, pointing out that proceedings against Google for non-compliance have already been initiated. They demand that the Commission move forward with these proceedings, issue preliminary findings, and levy fines, including periodic penalty payments, to compel Google to genuinely address the concerns and adhere to the regulations.
When approached for a response, Google directed to its blog post from November 26, where it outlined the numerous adjustments made to meet DMA requirements. Despite this, the tension between Google and the European price comparison websites remains, highlighting the ongoing struggle to balance innovation with regulatory compliance in the digital marketplace.
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