Google is pushing back hard against Europe's Digital Markets Act, arguing the landmark regulation is backfiring spectacularly. The company's senior competition director claims the DMA is causing "significant and unintended harm" to European users and businesses, with some tourism companies seeing direct booking traffic plummet 30% since implementation.
Google just fired its most pointed criticism yet at Europe's Digital Markets Act, with the tech giant calling for a complete "reset" of the regulation that was supposed to level the playing field but is instead crushing small businesses.
The company's broadside comes in a formal response to the European Commission's consultation on the DMA, where Google's Senior Director of Competition Oliver Bethell didn't mince words about the law's impact. "The Digital Markets Act, intended to create a more level playing field, is causing significant and unintended harm to European users and many of the small businesses it was meant to protect," Bethell wrote in the company's official blog post.
The most damning evidence? Europe's tourism sector is getting hammered. Under DMA compliance, Google Search can no longer show those handy travel results that link directly to airline and hotel websites. Instead, travelers now see links to intermediary booking sites that charge businesses for placement - essentially creating a paywall between customers and direct bookings.
The numbers tell a brutal story. Key European tourism businesses have watched their free, direct booking traffic from Google plummet by up to 30% since the DMA took effect. That's real money walking out the door, and it's hitting exactly the kind of small-to-medium businesses the regulation was supposed to help.
A recent economic impact study puts the potential damage in stark terms: European businesses across sectors could face revenue losses of up to €114 billion. That's not a rounding error - that's economic devastation disguised as consumer protection.
Google's frustration extends well beyond search results. The company argues the DMA is forcing them to remove legitimate security safeguards on Android, making users more vulnerable to scams and malicious links. "Unlike iOS, Android is open by design," the company notes, pointing out that users already have choices through sideloading and multiple pre-installed app stores.
But here's where it gets really interesting for the tech industry: Google is essentially arguing that the DMA is picking winners and losers, favoring "a small set of intermediary sites — who often shout the loudest in these debates — over the ability of most businesses to sell directly to their customers."
