Google's Proposed Search Changes Get Thumbs up from EU Airlines

Alphabet's Google's proposed changes to its search results to comply with EU tech legislation has received the thumbs up from lobbying group of airlines for Europe whose members include Air France KLM and Lufthansa.

Google has announced a series of changes in search result formats in recent months following conflicting demands from price-comparison sites, hotels, airlines and small retailers, with the latest tweaks announced last month.

It is trying to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which prohibits it from favouring its own products and services on its platform or risk fines as much as 10% of its global annual turnover.

"In the spirit of finding a DMA-compliant solution in a timely fashion, the airline industry has shown it is willing to compromise," Airlines for Europe said in a letter to the European Commission dated Dec. 20 and seen by Reuters.

The airline group expressed support for the horizontal layout for same sized boxes for airlines and comparison sites in search results as well as the colour blue to distinguish them from other elements.

But it said prices displayed in search results should be the same in the graphic as those in the boxes. It also expressed concerns about Google's proposal for a purely indicative date rather than specific dates for consumers looking to book flights.

"Characteristics such as dates are an integral part of the general search process of consumers looking for air travel and the switch to a purely indicative date will downgrade their experience significantly," the group.

Google has said it may return to an old format of 10 blue links in search results that it used years ago if its rivals - such as airlines and price comparison sites - cannot agree on its proposals to comply with the DMA and not promote its own products. 

The development follows Google offering to unbundle its Play Store from Google Chrome web browser and Google Search for the smartphone manufacturers a bid to placate the concerns of the US authorities in the antitrust case.