Credit: Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google says the EU Digital Markets Act is raising prices, slowing innovation, and hurting small businesses.
- The company cites studies and figures suggesting travel searches are worse and new products are delayed in Europe.
- The DMA was partly designed to rein in big tech power, so Google isn’t a neutral voice in this debate.
The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) was written to rein in giants like Google, Apple, and Meta. You won’t be surprised to learn that Google isn’t thrilled about it, claiming the law is causing “significant and unintended harm” to European users and businesses.
In a blog post, Google says travel is a big pain point. It claims the DMA now causes Search to prioritize booking sites over direct airline and hotel links. The company argues that this means higher prices for consumers and up to 30% less free traffic for tourism businesses. Google also cites a study suggesting the EU economy could lose as much as €114 billion in revenue as a result of the law.