In a recent development, lobbying groups representing airlines, hotels, and retailers in Europe have raised concerns regarding the potential impact of Google’s search changes on their businesses. The groups have called on EU tech regulators to consider the perspectives of smaller intermediaries, not just the larger players in the industry, when implementing these changes to comply with the new tech rules.
The Airlines for Europe group, which includes members such as Air France KLM and British Airways owner IAG, along with hotel group Hotrec, European Hotel Forum, EuroCommerce, Ecommerce Europe, and Independent Retail Europe, have all expressed worries about the implications of the new rules. The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) aims to impose a set of guidelines on Google and five other tech giants to provide users with more choices and give rivals a better chance to compete. However, the aforementioned groups fear that these adjustments could negatively impact their revenues.
In a joint letter to EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager and EU industry chief Thierry Breton, the groups voiced their concerns, stating that the changes could lead to increased discrimination and a depletion of direct sales revenues for companies, due to the preferential treatment given to powerful online intermediaries.
The Commission, currently investigating Google for possible breaches of the DMA, has yet to respond to the concerns raised. In a blog post from March, Google mentioned that the changes to search results would potentially favour large intermediaries and aggregators, resulting in less traffic for hotels, airlines, merchants, and restaurants.
The groups expressed their worry that the investigation only focuses on the fair and non-discriminatory treatment of third-party services, without acknowledging the impact on European businesses offering their services on Google.
This news comes amidst the ongoing discussions surrounding the implementation of the DMA and its potential effects on the operations of tech giants like Google. The concerns raised by these industry groups highlight the complexities and potential challenges of balancing the interests of different stakeholders when introducing regulatory changes in the tech sector.
In conclusion, the lobbying groups representing airlines, hotels, and retailers have urged EU tech regulators to consider their concerns when implementing changes to comply with the new tech rules. The implications of Google’s search changes have sparked apprehension within the industry, and it remains to be seen how these concerns will be addressed in the ongoing regulatory discussions.
Author: Foo Yun Chee
Title: Google’s Search Changes and the Concerns of Airlines, Hotels, and Retailers