BRUSSELS — Google is stepping up its criticism of Europe’s flagship tech law, arguing that the early enforcement of the provisions is having an unintended effect. The company is arguing that users are getting inferior search results, small businesses are losing free traffic and product launches are being delayed in the region — assertions that ramp up pressure on Brussels as it experiments with one of the world’s most aggressive efforts to tame digital gatekeepers.
What Google Says Is Broken Under EU DMA Rules
At the heart of Google’s complaint is the DMA’s ban on self‑preferencing, and how it is twisting commercial queries, in particular for travel. The company says that it now displays online travel agencies and aggregators more frequently than direct links to airlines and hotels in the European Union. That, it asserts, steers people toward middlemen who charge commissions on the way, ultimately driving up costs and depriving tourism businesses of free traffic by as much as 30%.
Google also cites survey data showing that people are taking longer to find what they are looking for. In a survey of 5,000 European users cited by the company, almost two‑thirds said they were now having to scroll greater distances for relevant results since the DMA’s changes, and 42% of people who frequently travel said that since then flight and hotel searches feel worse. One economic study cited by Google predicts the loss of up to €114 billion in revenue for the EU economy if current trends continue.
Google, for its part, says it has taken a “number of steps” to comply with the European antitrust ruling but that the compliance measures have demanded attention from engineering personnel and pushed back product roadmaps. It says some AI features are going live up to a year later in Europe as teams retool services around new rules of interoperability, consent and data use.
How The DMA Will Impact Search And Shopping
The DMA goes after “gatekeepers” and limits how they can give advantages to their own services. In plain practice, that means fewer large-bodied modules on now dominant funnel pages that directly surface a dominant platform’s maps, hotels or shopping listings and more generic links to exactly the type of third‑party services in which it will be impossible for Indies to meaningfully compete on the discoverability forcing them right back into aggregators in order to get seen. For users, that can mean extra clicks and more scrolling; for merchants, it can reposition demand from their own bookings to big aggregators.
This is the very point consumer advocates have long argued — putting an end to years of self‑preferencing that betrayed discovery through swift tilting toward gatekeepers’ own units. Some organizations, like BEUC, have said that even more unbiased results provide options and price transparency for comparison services. But industries like travel, where margins are thin and intermediaries levy hefty commissions, are often the first to reveal the trade‑offs between neutrality, convenience and price.
AI Rollouts And Feature Delays Add Friction
Google’s caution about slower innovation comes as part of a larger trend. Multiple big platforms have pushed back or altered their launches in Europe, as they work out how to interpret the DMA and its accompanying rules. Apple, for example, indicated that a slate of new iPhone features that included artificial intelligence‑powered technologies would roll out in the EU later than in other countries because of regulatory complications. And it highlights how compliance reviews, data‑handling restrictions and interoperability mandates can stretch timelines for high‑risk or high‑profile releases.
For Google, the ramifications are not simply legal or technical. Repeated consent prompts, changed defaults, and limitations on combining data across services all detract from the utility of connected features — especially those that use cross‑product signals to enable things like generative AI and personalization.
Regulators Are Testing the Guardrails of the DMA
The European Commission insists the DMA is intended to open markets and give competitors a level playing field, rather than hinder innovation. Enforcement is already in play: Brussels has opened formal non‑compliance investigations into Alphabet, Apple and Meta, and warned that violations can lead to fines of up to 10% of global turnover, escalating to 20% for repeat infractions. Officials have said the law is aimed at reining in entrenched advantages and spurring competition that ultimately benefits consumers and smaller companies.
Crucially, evidence does not run in just one direction. App developers and subscription businesses have said that the DMA’s anti‑steering and interoperability rules are starting to crack open closed distribution and payment models. Competition economists observe that short‑term friction in interconnection can be consistent with long‑term gains if it mitigates lock‑in and platform self‑dealing.
What Happens Now For Users And Businesses
Google says it has put in place sweeping changes to meet the requirements — such as new data portability tools, choice screens and redesigned search layouts — but is urging the Commission to streamline enforcement that is more “user‑driven, fact‑based, consistent and clear.” Look for more market testing, user‑journey measuring and sector‑specific consultations as regulators ascertain whether current remedies meet the DMA’s objectives without undermining usability.
The next phase will probably center on evidence. If costs of traveling or discovery times become materially worse, Brussels could change course; if competing services take off and the consumer experience gets better, the Commission will forge ahead. Either way, Europe is defining the template of how far governments can reshape platform design — and the rest of the world is watching to see what happens.
