Google Removing Hotel Features In Test To Help Small Operators In Three EU Countries

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Google is testing removing some hotel search features and maps to simplify search results in three EU countries, comply with EU regulatory requirements, and meet demands from comparison websites. Google said search results will revert to the old “ten blue links” to increase free direct booking clicks.

Google complying with the EU Digital Markets Act
Google announced it will run a temporary test of removing “the free hotel listings” from Search in Belgium, Germany, and Estonia to comply with the new Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Google said the test should help hotel operators, airlines, and small retailers increase their free direct booking clicks and reduce the dominance of “comparison sites and large online travel aggregators.”

During the test, Google will replace features like maps and hotel listings with the original blue links to comparison websites and hotels.

The test will only affect people searching in these three EU countries vietnam mobile number list and not outside users. Google also said results will return to normal once the test is complete.

Google wrote on its keyword blog it had made over 20 modifications to its search listings to comply with the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA). However, “comparison sites insist that our changes need to go even further.”

Google wrote:

“To do this, we will be running a short test to remove the free hotel features from Google Search for users in Germany, Belgium, and Estonia. The test will remove some of the features that have been at the focus of the debate, including the map that shows where hotels are and hotel results underneath it. Instead, we will show a list of individual links to websites without any of the additional features — similar to our old “ten blue links” format from years ago. Results will return to normal once the test ends.”