Exclusive-Google warns of lower quality as it revamps Europe search results to avoid EU fines

Alphabet's Google has announced significant modifications to its European search results to comply with EU antitrust regulations. These changes, which Google states will decrease the quality of service, are intended to level the playing field for businesses advertising online. However, Google believes the modifications will actually benefit price comparison sites, such as Expedia and Booking.com, over traditional businesses listed with just a website and contact details.

The European Commission gave Google 60 days to comply with the Digital Markets Act or face penalties up to 5% of its global revenue. Google's senior vice-president, Nick Fox, said the changes will negatively impact user experience, favoring online intermediaries over local businesses and stripping out crucial features. The changes, which will highlight one specialized search engine and a carousel of hotels, airlines, and restaurants, are expected to result in a negative impact on European businesses' free, direct booking traffic, with Google expecting a 30% drop.

Despite testing the changes with millions of European users, Google has received a high level of dissatisfaction, as users are forced to retype queries to find the desired information.