Google has made a new proposal to the European Union antitrust regulators aimed at avoiding a substantial fine related to alleged breaches of the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Per a document seen by Reuters, Google suggests modifying its search results to better showcase rival services by giving a chosen vertical search service (VSS) a dedicated box at the top of search results.
This box would mirror Google's own listings in format and features and include direct links to competitors in sectors like hotels, airlines, restaurants, and transportation.
In draft remarks, Google’s legal team argue that the current enforcement of the DMA has unintended negative consequences for European consumers and businesses.
They said it has resulted in higher costs for European consumers, such as increased prices for travel tickets, and a drop of up to 30% in direct bookings for European airlines, hotels, and restaurants due to the way Google now displays search results
Google is also requesting clearer guidance from EU regulators on what exactly compliance entails, emphasizing the need for concrete evidence of costs and benefits from its critics to ensure practical implementation.
The EU Commission is expected to gather feedback from competitors and stakeholders in upcoming meetings to assess whether Google's changes sufficiently address the antitrust concerns.
Google faces a fine of up to 10% of its global annual turnover for violating the DMA.
The EU has already levied multi-billion-euro fines on Google in previous antitrust cases, including a €2.4 billion fine upheld by the European Court of Justice for abuse of dominance in Google Shopping.
Shares of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Google's parent company, added 1% at about $178 on Wednesday morning.