European airlines have approved changes proposed by Google in search results aimed at compliance with the European Union legislation in the field of digital technologies (Digital Markets Act, DMA). The initiative was expressed by the Airlines for Europe association, which includes such major air carriers as Air France KLM and Lufthansa.
Google is working to adapt its search in response to criticism from a variety of industries, including airlines, hospitality and price comparison sites. The main goal is to eliminate favoritism towards the company’s own products and avoid fines that can reach 10% of annual global turnover.
In a letter to the European Commission dated December 20, Airlines for Europe noted the airlines’ willingness to compromise. They support a horizontal format for displaying results with the same block sizes for airlines and price comparison sites, as well as using blue to highlight them visually.
However, the association stressed the need to accurately match the prices listed in search results and the prices within the blocks. Airlines also expressed concern about Google’s proposal to use “indicative” dates instead of specific ones to search for air tickets. According to them, this could degrade the user experience, since exact dates are a key element when searching for flights.
Google is also considering reverting to the old 10-link format if stakeholders don’t reach a consensus.
