European Union Urges Google to Be Fair

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Lobby groups representing airlines, hotels and retailers in Europe have notified the European Union's technology regulator of changes made by Google to comply with the new Digital Markets Act (DMA). They urged that Google consider their views, not just those of big intermediaries, in adjusting its policies.

reported by reuters.com In March, groups representing the aviation industry, including the Airline Group for Europe which includes Air France KLM and British Airways, as well as hotel groups Hotrec, European Hotel Forum, EuroCommerce, Ecommerce Europe and Independent Retail Europe, stated their concerns about the impact of this. new negative regulations. They stated that the proposed changes could result in a decrease in their revenues by giving greater profits to powerful online intermediaries.

DMA was enforced by the European Union to ensure tech giants like Google provide more choice to users and create a fairer opportunity for competitors to compete. However, industry groups are concerned that implementing these regulations will actually benefit large intermediaries and harm the businesses of those who offer services directly.

In a joint letter addressed to EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager and EU industry chief Thierry Breton on May 22, the groups said their concerns were growing. They wrote that DMA solutions and current standard requirements can reduce discrimination against their businesses.

They stated that initial observations indicated that the proposed changes risked reducing their company's direct sales revenue. This is due to the additional benefits provided to large intermediaries due to the preferential treatment they will receive from Google.

The European Union Commission is currently investigating Google for possible DMA violations, but has not yet commented. Likewise, Google has not provided an official response to the concerns. In a blog post in March, Google stated that changes to its search results would give more traffic to intermediaries and large aggregators, while traffic to hotels, airlines, merchants and restaurants would decline.

The industry group emphasized that it is concerned the investigation only highlights the fair and non-discriminatory treatment of third-party services. They underestimated the recognition of European companies that also offer their services through Google. According to them, the solution proposed by the DMA does not take into account the possible negative impact on local businesses looking to compete in a market increasingly dominated by large intermediaries.

In their letter, the groups asked that the European Union's technology regulators reconsider the application of DMA regulations and ensure that their interests are also taken into account. They want a more balanced solution that not only benefits the country's big intermediaries but also gives local businesses a fair chance to thrive.

This letter reflects the tensions that exist between global tech giants and local businesses in Europe. Regulations that aim to create fairer and more competitive markets often create dilemmas because they have to balance various interests. DMA is an example of a regulation that has good intentions, but its implementation requires caution so as not to cause undesirable negative impacts on certain sectors.

The concerns voiced by these lobbying groups reflect how important ongoing dialogue is between regulators, technology providers and influential industries. Only by considering multiple perspectives and potential impacts can effective and fair regulations be implemented. The European Union faces major challenges in implementing the DMA, and the response and actions taken on input from various interest groups will determine the success of this verification in creating a fairer and more competitive digital market.