Google DMA fine for self-preferencing search: €460m and EU SERPs in 2027

Summary. On 23 July 2026 the European Commission fined Google €460 million under Article 6(5) of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) for favouring its own services in Google Search, finding non-compliance from 7 March 2024. A separate decision fined it €430 million over Google Play steering, which is why many headlines say €890 million. Google had 60 calendar days from notification to comply, about 21 September 2026 if counted from 23 July, or risk periodic penalty payments. On 8 September Google rolled out a redesigned layout in the European Economic Area (EEA): hotel, flight, long-distance train and bus, and product queries can show an aggregator unit with one comparison service expanded, beside a supplier unit for direct providers. Local business queries followed on 18 September, and free product listings were reported gone from EEA Search the same week. Alphabet says it appealed both decisions in October 2026 and that the appeals are pending. We found no Commission statement that the new layout complies. For 2027, comparison sites should apply and build feeds, while hotels, airlines and retailers should treat supplier-unit and organic visibility as separate channels and measure EEA queries apart.

About this article. This guide is for SEO leads, comparison sites, hotels, airlines, retailers and the agencies that serve them in Europe. We checked each date, number and rule on 1 November 2026 against the Commission's press releases, the non-confidential text of decision C(2026) 5358 dated 23 July 2026, the final text of Regulation (EU) 2022/1925, Alphabet's Form 10-Q for the quarter to 30 September 2026 and Google's Search Central documentation, using trade press only where no primary source exists, attributed as reported. This is general information, not legal advice, and no vendor paid for inclusion. Layouts vary by query and country and change often, so check live results in your own markets. Researched with AI assistance and reviewed by our editorial team.

The decision in numbers

The table draws on the press release and the published decision.

The press release puts the penalty ceiling at 5% of total worldwide turnover. Article 31(1) of the DMA words it as 5% of average daily worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year, for each day. On the roughly €356.51 billion turnover for 2025 recorded in the decision, that ceiling is about €48.8 million a day (€356.51 billion / 365 x 0.05, our arithmetic). We found no sign that any daily amount has been set.

Google said on the day that it was reviewing the decision, and Kent Walker, its president of global affairs, criticised the ruling, as reported by Tech Policy Press.

The decision does not prescribe a layout. It leaves Alphabet to identify the measures, within a range running from giving third parties the prominence its own services had to removing that prominence altogether. In our reading, the features Google removed are its compliance choice within that range, though Google argues the DMA forced its hand.

Why you will see other amounts

• €890 million is the total of both 23 July decisions and the figure in the press release headline. Only €460 million relates to Search; the other €430 million is the Play fine.

• About $1.0 billion is the charge Alphabet booked in the third quarter of 2026 for both fines.

• €2.42 billion is the 27 June 2017 Google Shopping antitrust fine under Article 102 TFEU, covering 13 EEA countries with a 90-day compliance window. It is a different legal regime from the DMA.

Keep the Google cases apart

Three DMA matters involving Google Search ran through 2026, plus the older antitrust case. Plan for them separately. The table draws on the Commission's releases, Google's site reputation post and reporting on the data-sharing timetable.

We cover the other two DMA matters in our site reputation policy guide and our Search click data explainer. A traffic change on a coupon section points to the site reputation case. A change on a query such as hotels in Lisbon points to this one. Mixing them leads to the wrong fix.

What changed in EU search results on 8 September 2026

Google added a page called Regional differences in Search experience on 8 September 2026 and logged it in its documentation changelog. The page says Search is changing for certain query types to open opportunities for vertical search services (VSS), comparison shopping services (CSS), direct suppliers and content providers. Google already ran earlier DMA units for comparison sites; SEJ describes the rollout as reworking aggregator units and adding supplier units.

The table summarises Google's regional page and unit documentation.

The page also lists an ecosystem carousel (weather, sports, finance, translate) and job sites features.

Reuters, as relayed by Search Engine Roundtable, described the visible layout: one specialised search service highlighted at the top, two others with less detail, and below them a carousel of hotels, airlines and restaurants without real-time prices, ordered by Google's algorithm. Nick Fox, Google's senior vice president of knowledge and information, said in a statement to Reuters, reported by SEJ, that the changes worsen the experience for Europeans, lift intermediaries over local businesses and remove features people use, and that users outside the EU will not be affected. A Google official told Reuters it was the largest reduction in service quality in the 29-year history of Search.

Skift reported Google saying the supplier unit is also restricted: EU users cannot filter by travel dates, check live prices or use descriptive tags such as budget or boutique inside the results. Google is also removing its vacation rentals unit from EEA Search, though those feeds can still power results on Maps and google.com/hotels.

Early practitioner posts are single-sample observations, not documented behaviour. Lluc B. Penycate said on X that a hotel sites module showed individual hotels with prices and links, which sits awkwardly with the accounts of prices being removed. Malte Landwehr posted a hotel map that did not open Google Maps.

The scope widened quickly. On 18 September Google added local business queries to both units, and a Google Actions Center page describes local searches as covering dining, services such as beauty salons, and things to do such as attractions. The decision's own list, which includes local places, translation and games, helps explain why the changes reach past the four categories in the press release.

Free product listings went too. Search Engine Roundtable reported on 18 September that free listings and popular products carousels had almost disappeared from EEA Search, with tracker data showing falls of about 90 to 100% in five countries, and that Google's Ads Liaison confirmed in a comment that the DMA ruling was the reason. Kelkoo, itself a CSS, reports the same change. We found no Google help page documenting it, so treat it as reported.

How the aggregator unit works

Google's aggregator unit documentation, last updated on 19 October 2026, sets out the mechanics.

• One provider at a time. Eligible aggregators populate the unit, the top-ranked provider is expanded by default, and users can pick another from a list. Only one aggregator unit shows at a time.

• Clicks go to the aggregator. They lead to the page it supplied.

• Approval first. Businesses must be approved as a VSS, provide the necessary data and meet quality standards. Travel and local providers express interest through Google's Search Aggregator Features form; product providers use the comparison shopping services contact form.

• Data by vertical. Hotels use the Lodging Point of Interest Feed, ground transportation uses the Transport features API, flights use the Partner standard Live API, and local businesses use the Local Point of Interest Feed. Products follow Google's CSS guide to showing product pages across Google.

• Content policies apply. Everything in the unit must comply with Google Search content policies.

Google's best practices read like a feed-quality checklist: rich entity details, factual titles without promotional text, clean original images, and prices and availability that match the landing page. We found no published criteria for ranking providers. For local feeds, the Actions Center says the data populates only the partner's own unit and will not enrich Google's services or competitors' units.

How the supplier unit works

The supplier unit is the direct providers' counterpart: individual hotels or airlines, brick-and-mortar businesses, or service providers such as plumbers. Three rules matter:

1. It appears only if the aggregator unit appears. A query that triggers no aggregator unit shows no supplier unit.

1. Your website must serve users in the EEA, and your business must be a direct provider for the covered query types.

1. You do not need to provide data beyond what web crawling can reach, though feeds can enhance supplier results. Google's link for supplier feeds points to Hotel Center help.

So crawlable, accurate pages are the entry ticket and feeds are an upgrade. Rates and room details behind a widget Googlebot cannot read are a disadvantage.

Who gains and who loses

The DMA's goal is equal treatment between Google's own services and rivals. The side effect, which Google has argued since 2024, is a shift of visibility from direct suppliers to intermediaries.

• Comparison sites, OTAs and directories gain a dedicated, expandable slot, and Google's unit documentation mentions no fee. The catch: one aggregator expanded at a time, algorithmic ranking, and approval plus feed or API work.

• Direct suppliers keep a unit, but only beside an aggregator. Google's November 2024 post said airlines, hotel operators and small retailers had reported free direct booking clicks down by as much as 30% after its earlier changes. In a December 2024 update on a test that stripped hotel features, announced for Germany, Belgium and Estonia, Google said hotels lost more than 10% of traffic while intermediary traffic stayed largely flat. These are Google's own numbers, and TNW points out that the data behind the 30% figure is not public. Google told Reuters it expects the latest changes to hit these businesses too.

• Retailers lose free listings in EEA web Search, as reported. Agency Peak Ace says paid Shopping ads remain, but the Commission said it was still assessing changes to shopping ads.

• Vacation rental hosts lose the dedicated unit in EEA Search.

• Publishers and affiliates see no rule change for ordinary organic results, but on affected commercial queries the new units sit in the space users scan first.

Pick your 2027 move

What is still open

• AI Overviews and AI Mode. The Commission noted Google's proposals for these features and said dialogue would continue. The published decision text does not mention them, on our text search. Skift reported Google saying updates will apply where relevant. We found no published outcome as of 1 November 2026.

• Shopping ads and sports. The Commission said Google had proposed and started testing changes here, which it was still assessing.

• A compliance verdict. We found no Commission statement on whether the September design complies. The newest Google item on its DMA news page is the 23 July decision, and the NEMO Europe tracker reported no material update at its 15 October check.

• Appeals. Alphabet says it appealed both July decisions in October 2026 and that both appeals remain pending; we could not find their case numbers. NEMO Europe reports that the General Court register lists two other cases filed on 28 September 2026 (T-638/26 and T-639/26), plus an interim-relief application (T-638/26 R). Press reports that week describe Google asking the court to annul the 16 July orders on search data and Android, so in our reading these are those challenges, not the fine appeals.

• Periodic penalties. The decision provides for them if Alphabet misses the 60-day deadline, and an action before the EU courts does not by itself suspend a decision.

SEO playbook for EU results in 2027

Measure first:

1. Split Search Console by country. Group EEA countries and compare them with your non-EEA markets for the same pages.

1. Tag affected query classes. Group hotel, flight, train and bus, product and local-intent queries so you can see each class over time.

1. Annotate 8 and 18 September 2026 in Search Console exports, GA4 and dashboards.

1. Fix rank tracking. Trackers set to US, UK or Indian locations do not show the EEA units. Add EEA locations and capture SERP features, not only positions.

Then work through the table above. Two additions: retailers should rebuild forecasts without free listings in EEA web Search and keep product structured data clean, and everyone should keep the cases apart in reporting. A drop on informational queries points elsewhere, so start with our core update recovery playbook rather than this decision.

Worked example: a hotel group's EEA exposure

All figures are illustrative assumptions for planning, not measured results. The 10% rate comes from Google's 2024 test of a different, stripped-down hotel layout, so treat it as a placeholder.

A 12-property hotel group gets 150,000 Google organic clicks a month. 70% come from EEA users: 150,000 x 0.70 = 105,000. Generic queries such as hotels in Porto make up 35% of EEA clicks: 105,000 x 0.35 = 36,750. The rest are brand queries.

• Scenario. Apply a 10% loss to generic EEA clicks: 36,750 x 0.10 = 3,675 clicks lost a month.

• Bookings at risk. At an assumed 2% booking rate, that is 3,675 x 0.02 = 73.5 bookings. At an assumed €300 average booking value, 73.5 x €300 = €22,050 of direct revenue a month.

• Partial recovery through OTAs. Suppose half those guests still book via an OTA at an assumed 18% commission. The recovered half is worth 36.75 x €300 = €11,025, minus €11,025 x 0.18 = €1,985 commission. The other half, €11,025, is lost.

• Net monthly impact. €11,025 lost plus €1,985 commission = €13,010, or about €156,000 a year.

The exposure sits almost entirely in generic EEA queries, which is why the measurement split comes first. If generic queries fall further than 10%, the numbers scale linearly. Re-run the model each quarter with real click data.

India, UK and US notes

• Outside the EEA, these units do not apply. Google's documentation ties them to users in the EEA, which is the 27 EU states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Users in India, the UK, Switzerland and the US do not get them, though Google's regional page lists separate features for Türkiye and South Africa.

• The UK is on its own track. The CMA's fair ranking requirement gives Google until 17 December 2026 to comply for UK results.

• Indian agencies and SaaS teams serving EU clients should configure EEA rank-tracking locations and review live SERPs from the client's markets.

• Indian travel and comparison platforms with EEA users may qualify as VSS participants, since Google's form is for businesses serving users in the EEA. Budget the feed or API integration first.

How eCorpIT can help

eCorpIT is a Gurugram-based technology organisation, founded in 2021, assessed at CMMI Level 5 and MSME certified, with senior-led engineering teams working across AWS, Microsoft and Google platforms. Our performance marketing team helps businesses selling into Europe separate EEA effects from everything else, with country-split reporting, query-class tagging, EEA rank tracking, crawlability audits and feed readiness for comparison platforms. Talk to us at /contact-us/.

Last updated: 1 November 2026.

References

1. Commission Implementing Decision C(2026) 5358 final, case DMA.100193, Alphabet, Google Search, Article 6(5), 23 July 2026 (non-confidential version) — European Commission

1. Commission fines Google €890 million for breaches of the Digital Markets Act (IP/26/1670), 23 July 2026 — European Commission

1. Aggregator unit in Google Search — Google Search Central

1. Supplier unit in Google Search — Google Search Central

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1. Latest Google Search documentation updates — Google Search Central

1. Google drops free product listings from European Economic Area (EEA), 18 September 2026 — Search Engine Roundtable

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1. How to start showing your product pages across Google — Comparison Shopping Services Help

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1. EEA and relations with the EU — European Free Trade Association