Google introduces uniform ad units to improve visibility for smaller businesses and industries like airlines and retailers.
The company is testing minimalist search results in Germany, Belgium, and Estonia, removing features like hotel information and maps.
Critics demand stricter measures, such as banning anything beyond basic blue links in search results.
Google has officially released a number of improvements to its search platform to meet with the European Union’s stricter Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations. For those who are unfamiliar, the DMA act limits tech giants’ ability to favor their own products and services. As a result, Google has made over 20 changes and is currently making even more.
According to the company’s most recent blog post, it has made a series of changes to make search results more inclusive for a variety of industries, including airlines, small retailers, and local businesses. Google stated that it will introduce new, uniformly formatted advertisement units that will allow users to select whether they want to be directed to comparison sites or directly to suppliers’ websites when searching for products, flights, hotels, and other services. This move will have a broader impact, increasing visibility for smaller players in an industry currently dominated by larger platforms.
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These updates also promise better formats for comparison sites and suppliers, allowing them to display more detailed information, such as prices and images, right in search results. However, Google did not provide visual examples of the new features, so users will have to wait until the changes are fully implemented to see how they look in action.
Even with the changes, some competitors are dissatisfied, claiming that the updates do not go far enough to ensure fair competition. Critics argued that the new features are still biased in favor of Google’s services. Some of them have even requested stricter measures, such as a ban on any search result feature other than the basic blue link.
Google is conducting a test in Germany, Belgium, and Estonia, testing with search results that are devoid of specific aspects. Starting November 25, users in these countries will no longer get extensive hotel information, curated hotel results, or map elements in search results for broad queries such as “hotels in Germany.” However, specialized hotel searches will continue to display certain components, causing some to suggest that Google is selectively eliminating features to demonstrate how such results improve user experience.
Google maintains that more minimalist search results, such as the simple blue links desired by competitors, will degrade the user experience. According to the firm, the ongoing research will show how removing improved features reduces the value of search results, especially for difficult searches that require rich, detailed content.
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