Google Alters Search Results in Europe Amid Antitrust Fines
Google is making significant changes to its search results for European users in order to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act. The company has been fined €460 million ($534 million) earlier this year for giving increased prominence to its own services, a practice that breaches the act.
The changes will affect users in Europe only and are expected to make their experience worse. Google's senior vice-president of knowledge and information, Nick Fox, stated that 'the changes will worsen the user experience for people in Europe, favouring online intermediaries over local businesses and getting rid of helpful features that users rely on every day.'
The European Union views these changes as a step towards creating a level playing field for businesses. However, Google claims that the prospect of facing additional fines was sufficient to cause it to make changes which it considers not to be in the best interests of its users.