TL;DR Summary:
DMA Changes Search: Google says hundreds of changes made to comply with Europe’s Digital Markets Act have removed features like real-time pricing, Maps links, and hotel-date filters.Privacy Fight Escalates: Google has appealed a mandate to share users’ search queries with rivals, arguing the data could expose sensitive personal information.Spam Safeguards Weakened: Google says limits on its spam protections may mean lower-quality results for European users, while the appeal and click-through debate remain unresolved.Why did Google make search worse in Europe? Google’s Nick Fox, Senior Vice President of Knowledge & Information, said the company made the biggest reduction in search quality in its 28-year history because of the EU’s Digital Markets Act. The Google DMA search quality reduction in Europe matters right now because Google just filed a formal appeal against part of the law, and the changes affect what European users see every time they search.
What Triggered the Google DMA Search Quality Reduction in Europe
Nick Fox spoke with Pietro Valetto in an interview posted on LinkedIn. Fox said Google has made hundreds of changes to Search in Europe over five years to comply with the DMA, a law meant to open up competition among large tech platforms. He said each change seemed small alone. Examples include losing the ability to check real-time flight and product prices, click directly into Google Maps for directions, and filter hotels by travel dates. Fox said the combined effect leaves European users with a version of Search that works worse than what people get anywhere else in the world.
The Privacy Risk Behind the Search Data Mandate
Fox said one part of the DMA requires Google to hand over user search queries to competing companies without enough anonymization, meaning the data cannot be reliably stripped of identifying details. He said most of these competing companies are not based in Europe, so the rule does not create real European competition. Fox pointed out that search queries often involve health, financial, and family questions people would not ask a spouse, friend, or doctor. He said moving that data outside Google’s own data centers exposes it to hacking and misuse. Google filed an official appeal against this data-sharing mandate the same day these interview details became public.
Spam Protection Cuts Add to the Search Quality Reduction
Fox said Google also had to pull back on spam protections in Europe, specifically its site reputation abuse policy. That policy targets sites that try to game Google’s ranking system by hosting low-quality content under a trusted brand name. Fox said pulling back on this protection under DMA rules means European users now see lower-quality results than users elsewhere. Because Google’s own spam-catching systems are weaker in this region, European site owners can no longer assume the platform will surface or penalize quality issues on their behalf. Tools such as Labrika’s SEO audit platform offer a way to independently check a site’s technical health and catch problems that reduced spam protections might otherwise miss.
Fox Pushes Back on Zero-Click Search Claims
During the interview, Valetto said he rarely clicks on search results anymore because Google’s AI summaries give him the information he needs. Fox disagreed with the idea that this pattern applies broadly. He said people still click through to websites often, especially for longer or more detailed questions. Fox has made this same argument for about a year, and he repeated it here without new data to support either side. Readers should treat the debate over click-through rates as unresolved rather than settled by either party.
What This Means for the Google DMA Search Quality Reduction Going Forward
Fox said Google supports the DMA’s goal of open competition but disagrees with how regulators are enforcing it. He said Europeans deserve access to the same search technology available elsewhere. The appeal Google filed against the data-sharing mandate will determine whether this specific privacy risk moves forward or gets blocked.
Watch for the outcome of Google’s appeal against the DMA data-sharing mandate, since that ruling will decide whether search queries get shared with outside companies. If you search from Europe, expect continued differences in features like real-time pricing and spam filtering compared to other regions until this legal process plays out. With Google’s search quality diminished in Europe due to DMA compliance changes, European site owners may find added value in independent auditing tools like Labrika, which checks over 200 ranking factors and flags indexing gaps that reduced spam protections might otherwise let slip through.
