Alphabet’s Google’s proposed changes to its search results to comply with EU technology law have received the thumbs up from lobbying group Airlines for Europe, whose members include Air France KLM and Lufthansa.
Google has announced a series of changes to search results formats in recent months following conflicting demands from price-comparison sites, hotels, airlines and small retailers, with the latest tweaks announced last month.
It is trying to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which prohibits it from favoring its own products and services on its platform or risk fines of up to 10% of its global annual turnover.
“In the spirit of finding a timely DMA-compliant solution, the airline industry has shown its willingness to enter into this agreement,” Airlines for Europe said in a letter to the European Commission dated Dec. 20 and seen by Reuters.
The airline group expressed support for uniform size boxes for airlines and a horizontal layout for comparison sites in search results, as well as a blue color to distinguish them from other elements.
But it said the values ​​shown in the search results should be the same as the boxes in the graphic. It raised concerns about Google’s proposal for purely indicative dates rather than specific dates for consumers looking to book flights.
“Attributes such as dates are an integral part of the general search process for consumers looking for air travel and switching to a purely symbolic date will significantly degrade their experience,” the group said.
Google said it may return to the old format of 10 blue links in search results that it used years ago if its competitors – such as airlines and price comparison sites – cannot agree to proposals to comply with the DMA and not promote their own products. .
Why should you buy our membership?
You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be confused and misinformed.
Choose your subscription package