More Than 20 European Price Comparison Websites Criticize Google’s Proposed Changes to Search Results
More than 20 price comparison websites across Europe have criticized Google’s proposed changes to its search results, stating that they still fail to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The websites, including Germany’s Idealo and billiger.de, France’s Le Guide, and others, claim that Google has not listened to their feedback and is instead “wilfully not complying” with the DMA.
Google has been discussing with the comparison sites, hotels, airlines, restaurants, and retailers for over a year on how to comply with the DMA, which prohibits favoritism towards its own products and services on its platform. Last month, Google announced its latest proposal, which includes expanded and equally formatted units to allow users to choose between comparison sites and supplier websites.
The price comparison websites, however, argue that Google has ignored their feedback and has continued to iterate on a non-compliant solution for months. They have called on the European Commission to take action against Google and impose fines on the company to force it to comply with the DMA.
In response to the criticism, Google referred to its blog post from November 26, which outlined the changes it has made over the past year to comply with the DMA and find a solution.