On 8 September, Google changed its search results across the European Economic Area. The changes are particularly noticeable in searches for hotels, flights, transport and products. They follow requirements under the Digital Markets Act and a €460 million fine imposed by the European Commission in July for favouring Google’s own services. The Commission’s objection is straightforward: Google runs the largest search engine while also selling services within it. It decides what users see first while competing for their attention with aggregators such as Booking and Expedia, independent retailers and airlines.
Yet in this dispute between powerful institutions, the interests of the businesses actually making the sales have once again taken a back seat. Google Hotels, Flights and Shopping allowed users to visit hotel, airline and retailer websites through free links. Google sold advertising alongside those links, while businesses had a chance to take orders directly, sometimes at no acquisition cost at all. Following the DMA requirements, aggregators and comparison services have been given more space in search results. Sections featuring offers directly from suppliers remain, but aggregators now have additional prominent routes to attract customers.
How Does This Work?
Let’s take a small hotel as an example. Online travel agencies, or OTAs, such as Booking charge commissions of around 15–30% of the booking value, sometimes more. On a €1,000 booking, that means spending €150–300 to acquire the guest. By contrast, the hotel paid nothing when someone clicked a free Google Hotels link after finding it on the map—the kind of link the European Commission wanted to limit in search results.
If some direct bookings move to an aggregator, the hotel earns less from the same revenue. It is a strange victory for competition policy: Brussels restricts one intermediary while deliberately creating conditions that strengthen others. Europe collects more tax revenue, while the business owner loses out, as usual.
Google has its own interests in this dispute. For years, it has brought search, advertising, maps, reviews and shopping into a single ecosystem, so regulatory intervention was to be expected. But the quality of that regulation should also be judged by how much money ultimately stays with the seller. Giving Google’s competitors more space still needs to translate into a benefit for businesses. While the European Commission and technology companies argue, hotels, retailers and service businesses have a practical task to get on with: strengthen direct sales and learn how to bring existing customers back.
What Should Businesses Do?
Give customers a reason to book or buy directly. Your website should be easier to use than Booking or Google Hotels. Offer more choice: vegan or kosher breakfasts, or a hearty breakfast for guests planning an active day outdoors. Let guests put together their stay with other distinctive extras. Set up a CRM, keep track of customer preferences and use them to make personal offers. Introduce a loyalty programme. It does not have to revolve around discounts—offer experiences worth coming back for. Send updates about events, special menus, live music evenings or new horse-riding excursions available through the hotel.
Use Feedback to Keep the Conversation Going
Asking for a rating usually marks the end of the conversation with a customer. Yet this is precisely when a business can find out what needs improving and whether that person would return. After a stay, ask your guest how the trip went. If there was a problem, pass it to someone who can help, then get back to the guest with a solution.
Email and WhatsApp can help you stay in touch with people who have agreed to receive messages. Make those messages as useful as possible. One customer might appreciate a special menu; another, an offer for their planned travel dates or news that a product they have been waiting for is available. Adjust the frequency based on how people respond: clicks, orders, replies and unsubscribes can all be tracked in a custom CRM. Your customer database generates revenue when you remember what people care about and contact them with something relevant.
Track Profit by Channel
Changes in Google may be easy to miss at first. Booking numbers are more or less steady, reservations keep coming in, but Booking’s share has risen from 20% to 45%. The hotel is still full. Yet more reservations now carry a commission of up to 30%, and by the end of the quarter, the drop in profit is clear. Online retailers face a similar situation when direct sales gradually shift to marketplaces.
To spot these changes, track where your customers are coming from and how that mix changes over time. Pay particular attention to repeat bookings and purchases: are you paying an aggregator again and again for the same customer? This helps you see which channels bring in new customers and where you could have done more to bring an existing customer back directly.
Conclusion
Google and the European Commission will be arguing over the rules of European search for a long time to come. Your business can already work on what it controls: the quality of its website and other online communication channels, its service, its customer relationships and the profitability of repeat purchases. An aggregator can introduce someone to your business. What happens next depends on you: how you welcomed them, what you offered, whether you remembered them after the purchase, how well that matched their expectations and how easy you made it to stay in touch.
At Zaltsman Media, we have spent almost 20 years helping businesses grow and adapt to changes in the European market. We build hotel websites that make booking easy, online stores with a straightforward checkout and CRM systems built around the needs of your company. If you want to grow direct sales and build stronger relationships with returning customers, let’s discuss which tools would help your business.
Regina Zaltsman
Google Ads Certified Expert with over 18 years of experience
