As the DMA comes into force, Google unveils its first measures to bring its services into compliance with European legislation. The Internet giant will modify six of its services by March 6, 2024.
The fateful date for the entry into force of the Digital Market Act (DMA) is fast approaching, forcing digital giants to submit to a certain number of obligations. As a reminder, this new legislation aims to better regulate digital companies, in particular GAFAM, and their activities in the European Union, in order to prevent abuses due to their dominant position. Thus, the DMA must make it possible to fight against anti-competitive practices, to prevent these companies from favoring their own services to the detriment of those of other market players, to encourage innovation and to better protect users and consumers ( see our article).
Also, on March 6, 2024, the six major gatekeepers – Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance (TikTok), Meta (Facebook) and Microsoft – will have to have taken steps to comply with the legislation. But around twenty European and international companies signed an open letter accusing them of dragging their feet – in particular they were not consulted by access controllers regarding their compliance measures. In a blog post, Google, which must bring a certain number of its services – namely its search engine, Google Maps, its Chrome browser, Google Shopping, the Play Store, YouTube and its advertising service – into compliance, has clarified the measures it will put in place. Also, you will soon have more choices on Android, Chrome and in search results!
DMA: Google services open up to competition
Google is known for sharing its users’ data between its different services, which allows it to offer more targeted advertising and more relevant video suggestions in YouTube. This also allows it to collect a huge amount of information which allows the company to be ever more profitable. But a big upheaval is brewing: Google is going to give you the possibility of dissociating its services! In the coming weeks, a consent banner similar to that for placing cookies will ask you if you give your consent. Please note that if you choose not to link the services, certain functions may be limited or unavailable. You can change these settings at any time.
On Android, you will be able, on all devices sold from March 6, to choose your default web browser and search engine, rather than automatically imposing Chrome and Google. The Mountain View firm is also asking browser and search engine publishers to make themselves known in order to integrate this new selection panel.
In terms of Internet search, Google results will soon leave more room for competition, by offering more links to comparison sites and adding shortcuts so that you can refine your search in place of its search tool. comparison integrated into the results. “For categories such as hotels, we will also start testing a dedicated area for comparison sites and direct suppliers to display more detailed individual results, including images, star ratings and more.”, details the company. These changes will also have the effect of removing certain functions, such as Google Flight. Enough to avoid a future fine, the Internet giant having already received a painful 2.4 billion euros from the European authorities. Finally, Google will test with developers a new API for data portability. This will make it easier for you to transfer a copy of your data from one service to another – from Facebook Photo Library to Google Photos, for example.
If the company reaffirms its support for “DMA’s ambitions regarding consumer choice and interoperability“, she is however worried about “difficult compromises” which will result from it. “We are concerned that some of these rules will reduce the choices available to people and businesses in Europe”, she explains. The next few weeks are going to be exciting!