Google Under Fire: How the Digital Markets Act Will Revolutionize Your Chrome Experience

Key Points

• The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is causing significant harm to European users and small businesses due to its unintended consequences, such as increased prices and reduced traffic to businesses.
• The DMA is favoring the few, prioritizing the commercial interests of intermediary sites over the ability of most businesses to sell directly to their customers.
• Regulatory burdens and uncertainty are delaying the launch of new products, including AI features, and hurting European consumers and businesses who deserve access to the latest technology.

As a tech journalist, I’m reporting on the latest insights from Google regarding the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and its impact on European users and businesses. The DMA was intended to create a more level playing field, but it’s causing significant and unintended harm to many of the small businesses it was meant to protect. For instance, the DMA requires Google Search to stop showing useful travel results that link directly to airline and hotel sites, and instead show links to intermediary websites that charge for inclusion. This raises prices for consumers and reduces traffic to businesses, making it harder for people to quickly find reliable, direct booking information.

The European tourism industry has already seen free, direct booking traffic from Google Search plummet by up to 30%. A recent study estimates that European businesses across sectors could face revenue losses of up to €114 billion. This is a significant concern, as the DMA is prioritizing the commercial interests of a small set of intermediary sites over the ability of most businesses to sell directly to their customers.

Moreover, the DMA is making it difficult to protect users from scams and malicious links on Android by forcing Google to remove its legitimate safeguards that protect users’ security and safety. Unlike iOS, Android is open by design, meaning that users can download apps from other sources and most devices come with multiple app stores pre-installed. This openness has benefited innovation and choice across Europe, but it’s now under threat.

The DMA’s biggest challenge remains: how to boost innovation and deliver cutting-edge products to Europe while navigating complex and untested new rules. Regulatory burdens and uncertainty are delaying the launch of new products, like Google’s latest AI features, by up to a year after they launch in the rest of the world. This delay hurts European consumers and businesses who deserve access to the latest and greatest technology.

Google has proactively made many changes to its products to comply with the DMA, including offering new opportunities like data portability tools for European businesses and developers. However, the company and other businesses still face considerable uncertainty and unpredictability. This is compounded by overlapping rules from national regulators and cases before national courts that are increasingly undermining the DMA’s goal of creating harmonized, consistent rules across the EU.

It’s time for a reset, and Google is calling on the Commission to ensure that future enforcement is user-driven, fact-based, consistent, and clear. The focus should be on benefiting European businesses and consumers, and ensuring that they benefit from high-quality products and services. DMA compliance should improve digital markets, not come at the expense of security, integrity, quality, or usefulness. As the tech industry continues to evolve, it’s essential to find a balance between regulation and innovation, and to prioritize the needs of users and businesses alike.

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