Google Redesigns Search in Europe: DMA Compliance and Market Impact

Google has officially implemented a significant overhaul of its Search results page across the European Economic Area (EEA). This structural shift is not a voluntary product update but a direct response to the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), a regulatory framework designed to curb the dominance of big tech 'gatekeepers' and foster a more competitive digital ecosystem. The redesign fundamentally alters how users interact with commercial queries, specifically those targeting travel, transport, and shopping.

A new hierarchy for commercial queries

The core of the update lies in the introduction of two distinct result types: the aggregator unit and the supplier unit. These are specifically triggered by commercial searches involving hotels, flights, long-distance trains or buses, and various products. The aggregator unit is designed for vertical search services, which include metasearch engines, online travel agencies, and comparison shopping directories.

In this new layout, the top-ranked aggregator is expanded by default, showcasing prices, ratings, and photos. While users can switch to other participating aggregators, only one such unit is displayed at a time. Clicks within this unit lead the user directly to the aggregator's own website rather than the final service provider. Parallel to this, Google has introduced the supplier unit. This allows direct providers—such as an individual airline or a specific hotel—to maintain a presence on the results page, though this unit only appears when an aggregator unit is also present.

The technical requirements for visibility

For businesses to appear in these new formats, the requirements vary depending on their role in the ecosystem. Aggregators must be approved as vertical search services and are required to supply their data via real-time APIs or dedicated feeds. This ensures that the information displayed in the expanded units remains current and accurate.

Conversely, direct suppliers face a lower technical barrier. Google has indicated that suppliers do not need to submit additional data beyond what the search engine can already retrieve through its standard indexing processes. However, the visibility of these suppliers is now tethered to the presence of an aggregator, creating a symbiotic but restrictive relationship on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

User experience and the carousel evolution

Beyond the DMA-mandated units, Google has been integrating rich result carousels to modernize the browsing experience. These carousels allow users to scroll horizontally through tiles containing images and pricing for local services and travel. While these features are rolling out broadly, Google has specifically tested shopping-related carousels in markets including France, Germany, Czechia, and the UK.

The implementation of these carousels relies heavily on structured data markup. Websites that have not implemented the correct schema will continue to see their content displayed as standard text results, highlighting a growing divide between technically optimized sites and those relying on legacy SEO practices. To further assist users, Google is also deploying refinement chips, which act as filters to help searchers narrow down results to specific content types.

Google's warning on search quality

The transition has not been without friction. Google has been vocal about the potential negative externalities of these regulatory requirements. In a statement reported by Reuters, Nick Fox, Google's senior vice president of knowledge and information, argued that these changes could actually degrade the search experience for European users. The company contends that by forcing a layout that prioritizes intermediaries, the system may remove helpful features that users have come to rely on.

The changes will degrade the user experience for Europeans, boosting online intermediaries at the expense of local businesses, and removing helpful features people rely on every day.

Google further claims that internal testing with millions of European users revealed high levels of dissatisfaction, primarily because the new structure forced some users to retype their queries to find specific information. More alarmingly for small business owners, Google expects these changes to cut free direct booking traffic to European businesses by as much as 30%.

The role of the ranking algorithm

Despite the structural changes to how results are presented, the underlying logic of who gets seen remains consistent. Google has clarified that its ranking algorithms still determine which aggregators and suppliers are featured. The DMA mandates how the information is displayed—ensuring that comparison sites are not suppressed in favor of Google's own integrated tools—but it does not dictate which specific third-party sites are the most relevant to the user's query.

This means that while the 'real estate' of the SERP has been redistributed, the battle for SEO dominance continues. The focus has simply shifted toward ensuring API compatibility for aggregators and maintaining high-quality structured data for suppliers who wish to appear in the new carousels and units. You can find more details on these new search features as they continue to evolve across the region.

Global implications for US and UK businesses

For entrepreneurs and marketing executives in the USA and the UK, the immediate impact of these changes is limited, as Google has explicitly stated that users outside the EU/EEA will not see these specific redesigned results. However, this rollout serves as a critical case study in regulatory-driven product design.

In the US, where antitrust scrutiny of big tech is intensifying, the DMA model provides a blueprint for how future legislation might force a decoupling of search engines from their own vertical services (like Google Flights or Google Hotels). UK businesses should pay close attention, as the UK's own regulatory approach to digital markets often mirrors or adapts EU trends.

The most vital takeaway for global firms is the shift toward 'intermediary dominance.' If the EU's experience holds true—where direct booking traffic drops by 30%—businesses operating in Europe must pivot their strategy. Relying solely on organic search for direct acquisitions is becoming riskier. Instead, global brands must ensure they are optimally represented within the aggregators that now hold the primary 'expanded' real estate on the European web. The era of the direct-to-consumer search click is facing a regulatory bottleneck in Europe, and this could be the first step toward a more fragmented, intermediary-led global search landscape.

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Sources: Searchenginejournal (2), Guavy ·