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

However, it said in its view the changes favour price comparison sites, also known as vertical search services (VSS), linked ​to sectors including hotels, airlines and restaurants, such as Expedia or Booking.com. They get more prominence in search results ⁠over companies in those sectors that are listed with just a link to their websites, telephone numbers and addresses.

Google hit with more than $500 ​million fine in July. The US tech giant was hit with a€460 million ($534 million) finein July for favouring its own services in shopping, ​hotels, transport and sports results in search results, in breach of the EU's Digital Markets Act seeking to rein in the power of Big Tech.

The European Commission gave it 60 days to comply with the DMA or risk periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of its total worldwide turnover. The revamped search results will ​highlight one specialised search engine at the top of the page, followed by two others with fewer details.

A carousel of hotels, airlines ​and restaurants, for example, will sit below them with key features such as real-time prices stripped out. The rankings will be determined by Google's algorithm. "To comply with ‌DMA ⁠requirements, we're making significant changes to Search in Europe," Nick Fox, Google's senior vice-president, knowledge & information, said in a statement to.

Reuters. "These changes degrade the user experience for Europeans — boosting online intermediaries at the expense of local businesses, and removing helpful features people rely on every day. Users outside the EU will not be impacted by these changes," he said.

Changes will hit European businesses, Google says. Google said past changes to comply ​with the DMA led to a ​30% drop in free, direct ⁠booking traffic to European businesses, and the latest changes are expected to hit them.

The company said it has tested the changes with millions of users in Europe, who show a high level of dissatisfaction as ​they have to retype queries to find what they want.

EU regulators handed out a separate €430 million fine ​in July for ⁠restrictions preventing app developers from steering users free of charge to cheaper offers on rival app stores or websites. On how Google Play plans to comply with the DMA with regard to that, the company said it has already updated its external offers programme.

It announcedtweaks in August last yearto ⁠make it ​easier for app developers to direct customers to other channels and choose a fee ​model. Google has racked up total EU antitrust penalties of €10.38 billion in its near two-decade-long fight with EU antitrust regulators.

The EU finesdrew firefrom US President Donald Trump, who ​threatened to launch a probe into the bloc's "robbing" of American companies.